Patent ID: 7820869

Claim:
A process for separating para-xylene from a mixture comprising at least one other C 8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon, the process comprising contacting, under adsorption conditions, the mixture with a binderless adsorbent comprising zeolite X and having a water content from about 3% to about 5.5% by weight to adsorb para-xylene, present in an adsorbed phase, in preference to the at least one other C 8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon present in a non-adsorbed phase; flushing the non-adsorbed phase from contact with the adsorbent to produce a raffinate stream comprising the at least one other C 8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon; and desorbing para-xylene in the adsorbed phase from the adsorbent to produce an extract stream comprising para-xylene; wherein the binderless adsorbent contains no amorphous material or the binderless adsorbent contains amorphous material in an amount less than about 2% by weight as determined by X-ray diffraction.