Patent ID: 8269053

Claim:
A process for making styrene comprising: reacting toluene and methane in one or more microreactors comprising a reaction zone to form a first product stream comprising ethylbenzene, styrene, benzene, toluene and methane; sending the first product stream to a first separation zone; removing at least a portion of any toluene and methane from the first separation zone for recycle to the one or more microreactors; removing at least a portion of the benzene from the first separation zone; reacting the benzene with ethylene in a separate alkylation reactor to form a second product stream comprising ethylbenzene; sending the second product stream to the first separation zone; removing at least a portion of any ethylbenzene from the first separation zone; and dehydrogenating the ethylbenzene in one or more dehydrogenation reactors to form styrene; wherein the reaction zone comprises one or more catalyst sites comprising a catalyst selected from the group consisting of X zeolite, Y zeolite, mordenite, silicalite, and combination thereof; wherein the catalyst is modified with molybdenum, sodium, or other basic ions.