Patent ID: 8598238

Claim:
A process for the preparation of hydrocarbon products comprising the steps of: (a) providing a synthesis gas comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; (b) reacting the synthesis gas to an oxygenate mixture comprising methanol and dimethyl ether in presence of one or more catalysts which together catalyze a reaction of hydrogen and carbon monoxide to oxygenates at a pressure above 4 MPa; (c) withdrawing from step (b) the oxygenate mixture comprising amounts of methanol, dimethyl ether, carbon dioxide and water together with unreacted synthesis gas and introducing the entire amount of the oxygenate mixture without further treatment into a catalytic oxygenate conversion step (d); (d) reacting the oxygenate mixture in presence of a catalyst being active in the conversion of oxygenates to higher hydrocarbons; and (e) withdrawing an effluent from step (d) and separating the effluent into a tail gas, a liquid hydrocarbon phase containing the higher hydrocarbons produced in step (d) and a liquid aqueous phase, wherein the pressure employed in steps (c) to (e) is substantially the same as employed in step (b), and wherein the oxygenate mixture is diluted with an inert gas comprising mainly carbon dioxide contained in the synthesis gas and formed during reaction of the synthesis gas to dimethyl ether, the carbon dioxide beign recycled to step (d) from a downstream product separation step.