Patent ID: 8916661

Claim:
A process for producing propylene, comprising the steps of: a) converting one or more of coal, glycerol, ethanol, methanol, methane, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, black liquor, or biomass into syngas, b) using the syngas in a Fischer-Tropsch reaction using an iron-based catalyst with low chain growth probabilities to obtain a first product stream that comprises ethylene, butylene, and a first portion of propylene, and, optionally, ethane, propane, and butane, c) isolating at least a portion of the first portion of the propylene, optionally along with propane, d) separately isolating ethylene and butylene, optionally along with ethane and butane, e) combining the ethylene and butylene, and performing olefin metathesis on the ethylene and butylene, to obtain an second product stream rich in a second portion of propylene, f) isolating the second portion of propylene from the second product stream, and g) combining the first portion of the propylene with the second portion of the propylene.