Selectivity and Loading. Both DMSO and Dimethyl Sulfone (DMSO2) have the unusual ability to extract aromatic compounds selectively from mixtures containing both aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. This ability is useful in the purification of hydrocarbon fractions which have components with similar boiling points. An industrial example is the purification of BTX (benzene / toluene / xylene) from aliphatic hydrocarbons.
Related Resources
US patent # 6617583 discusses the use of DMSO2 as an additive to improve process selectivity and loading in commercial glycol-based BTX extractive distillation.
US patent # 6555726 discusses the use of DMSO2 as an additive to improve process selectivity and loading in commercial sulfolane-based BTX extractive distillation.
US patent # 6660899 discusses the use of DMSO/DMSO2 to improve the performance of BTX extractive distillation, relative to current glycol and sulfolane -based technology.
