Patent ID: 7329788

Claim:
A process for dimerizing olefinic hydrocarbons, comprising: feeding a fresh olefinic hydrocarbon feedstock to a first reaction zone; contacting the olefinic feedstock with a first catalyst in order to produce hydrocarbons having a modified isomeric structure; withdrawing a first effluent containing at least a part of the hydrocarbons having a modified isomeric structure comprising the product of double bond isomerization from the first reaction zone; contacting the first effluent with a second catalyst in a second reaction zone under conditions allowing for selective dimerization of the hydrocarbons having a modified isomeric structure in order to produce a dimerized reaction product; withdrawing a second effluent containing at least part of the dimerized reaction product from the second reaction zone; and conducting the second effluent to a separation zone, wherein the dimerized reaction product is separated from said second effluent.