In an alkylation zone, a benzene recycle stream and a propylene feed
stream are contacted with an alkylation catalyst to convert the propylene
and benzene into cumene. In a transalkylation zone, a
polyisopropylbenzene stream and a benzene recycle stream are contacted
with a transalkylation catalyst to convert the polyisopropylbenzene and
benzene into cumene. The alkylation and transalkylation zone effluents
are passed into a dividing wall fractionation column.A cumene product
stream is removed from an intermediate point of the dividing wall
fractionation column. A benzene recycle stream is removed from a first
end, and another benzene recycle stream is removed from an intermediate
point of the dividing wall fractionation column. A polyisopropylbenzene
stream is removed from a second end of the dividing wall fractionation
column. The polyisopropylbenzene stream is passed to a
polyisopropylbenzene fractionation column to separate the
polyisopropylbenzene from a heavy ends stream.