Isomerization of a feedstream comprising C.sub.5 to C.sub.6 hydrocarbons
involving charging hydrogen and the feedstream into an isomerization zone
to contact an isomerization catalyst at isomerization conditions and
increase the branching of the feedstream hydrocarbons to produce an
isomerization effluent stream has been discovered. Without passing
through a stabilizer, the isomerization effluent is passed through a
product separator and a flash drum and then to an adsorptive separation
zone to generate a raffinate stream enriched in branched alkanes, an
extract stream enriched in normal alkanes, and at least one light ends
stream. Within the adsorptive separation zone, the raffinate and the
extract streams are each passed through a fractionator remove light ends
and desorbent. The desorbent is recycled to the adsorptive separation
zone. The remainder of the extract stream is recycled to the
isomerization zone and the remainder of the raffinate stream is
collected.