Process for producing benzene and lpg2

Abstract

The invention is directed to a process for producing benzene and LPG comprising the steps of: (a) reacting a source feed stream comprising monoaromatic compounds of formula (I), wherein R1-R5 are the same or different and are chosen from hydrogen or a linear alkyl group of 1-10 carbon atoms, and methanol in an alkylation reactor comprising a basic catalyst to obtain an alkylation product stream and subsequently (b) contacting the alkylation product stream in the presence of hydrogen in a hydrocracking reactor with a hydrocracking catalyst comprising 0.01-1 wt-% hydrogenation metal in relation to the total catalyst weight and a zeolite having a pore size of 5-8 Å and a silica (SiO2) to alumina (Al2O3) molar ratio of 5-200 to produce a hydrocracking product stream comprising benzene and LPG under process conditions including a temperature of 425-580° C., a pressure of 300-5000 kPa gauge and a Weight Hourly Space Velocity of 0.1-15 h−1.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.