Process for producing synthetic natural gas and high octane motor fuel components

Claim 1

A process for producing synthetic natural gas and a motor fuel blending stock component having a high unleaded research octane number, which process comprises catalytically reforming in a reforming reaction zone a naphtha feed-stock containing naphthenes by contacting in said zone said naphtha in the vapor phase and in the presence of hydrogen with a reforming catalyst at low severity reforming conditions selected to maximize the formation of aromatics by dehydrogenation of naphthenes and to minimize hydrocracking of components of said feed-stock; cooling the effluent from said reaction zone and separating said effluent in a first separation zone into a hydrogen-rich gas stream and a liquid low octane reformate, said reformate comprising predominantly aromatics and paraffins and less than about 10% naphthenes, and having an octane number of less than about 95; introducing said reformate into a methanation zone for conversion of non-aromatic hydrocarbons to methane and into contact with a methanation catalyst in the presence of hydrogen, and separating in a second separation zone the effluent from said methanation zone into only two streams, said streams being a high octane motor fuel blending stock component comprising predominantly aromatics and having a higher percentage of aromatics than in said low octane reformate and a synthetic natural gas stream comprising essentially, on a carbon dioxide-free basis, methane and less than about 5% hydrocarbons having more than one carbon atom per molecule, and not more than 10% hydrogen.