Patent ID: 8653315

Claim:
A method of converting toluene to xylene, comprising the steps of: reducing a multiple zeolite catalyst with hydrogen gas at about 400° C., the multiple zeolite catalyst consisting of: mordenite having a silica to alumina ratio of about 240 to 1; ZSM-5 having a silica to alumina ratio of about 30 to 1; alumina binder, the mordenite and the ZSM-5 forming a homogenous mixture with the binder; and molybdenum added to the mixture of the alumina binder, the mordenite, and the ZSM-5, the molybdenum forming about 3 wt. % of the catalyst; contacting a feed consisting essentially of toluene with the reduced multiple zeolite catalyst and hydrogen in a reactor at a pressure between 10 to 30 bar, a temperature of 275° C. to 350° C., a space velocity of 1.5 to 3.0 hr −1 , and a hydrogen to hydrocarbon ratio of 2:1 to produce an effluent in a single-stage process; stripping C5 and lighter hydrocarbons and stripping unreacted feed from the effluent; and collecting a mixture of xylene isomers from the effluent.