Continuous Separation of Normal Paraffins from Hydrocarbons by Molecular Sieve Zeolites

Molecular sieves are utilized in the petroleum industry, especially for the purification of gas streams, separating compounds and drying materials. The separation of various hydrocarbon compounds through the use of selective adsorbents is widely employed in the petroleum, chemical and petrochemical industries. The separation of C10-C14 normal paraffins from a mixture which comprises C10-C14 isoparaffins, aromatics and naphtenics is the recovery of a particular class of hydrocarbons from broad boiling point range mixture of two or more classes of hydrocarbons. A very successful process for separating components from a feed mixture based on the use of adsorbents or molecular sieves for chromatographic type separations is the countercurrent moving bed or simulated moving bed countercurrent flow system. In the moving bed or simulated moving bed process the adsorption and desorption operations are continuously taking place which allows both continuous production of an extract and a raffinate stream and continual use of feed and desorbent streams.