Adsorptive separation of meta-xylene from C8 aromatics

► Adsorption process for separating meta-xylene from a feed mixture containing C8 aromatics has been investigated. ► Zeolitic adsorbents with different SiO2/Al2O3 were synthesized by hydrothermal method. ► Selectivity of meta-xylene was increased with optimizing number of exchanged cationic sites in Na-Y zeolite. ► Selectivity factor of meta-xylene to para-xylene, ortho-xylene and ethyl benzene were 2.26, 1.935 and 5.04, respectively.