US 7,678,958 B2 · Method of removing dimethyl ether from an olefin stream

Method of removing dimethyl ether from an olefin stream

AssigneeExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc.

InventorsMinquan Cheng, Jeffrey J. Phillips, Michael Peter Nicoletti, David Ritchie Lumgair, Jr., John Richard Shutt, Jeffrey Alan Kabin, Wilfried Borgmann, Josef Kunkel, Helmut Fritz, Roland Walzi, Gerhard Lauermann, Klaus Muller

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Abstract

This invention is directed to a method of removing dimethyl ether from an olefin stream. The method includes distilling the olefin stream so that the dimethyl ether is separated out of the olefin stream with propane. The olefin stream can then be further distilled to provide a polymer grade ethylene stream and a polymer grade propylene stream, with each stream containing not greater than about 10 wppm dimethyl ether.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A method of separating dimethyl ether from an olefin stream made from an oxygenate to olefin reaction process, comprising:

contacting oxygenate with a molecular sieve catalyst to form the olefin stream, wherein the olefin stream comprises water, propylene, propane, and dimethyl ether;
drying the olefin stream;
and
distilling the dried olefin stream to separate the dimethyl ether and propane as a bottoms from the propylene wherein the dried olefin stream contains not greater than 1,000 wppm water.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.