Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090099389 | Method and apparatus for making acetic acid with improved productivity - An improved apparatus and method of producing acetic acid includes recovering product from the residue of a light ends column and feeding the acid so recovered forward in order to increase system productivity. Load on the light ends column is reduced and load on a dehydrating column may also be lessened in a preferred embodiment where the recovered acid is fed forward without further water removal. | 04-16-2009 |
20110250101 | Method and Apparatus for Making Acetic Acid with Improved Light Ends Column Productivity - An improved apparatus and method of producing acetic acid includes condensing overhead vapor to provide reflux to the light ends column as well as condensing vapor from a central portion of the light ends column to increase capacity. Throughput or load on the light ends column is substantially reduced without compromising product quality. | 10-13-2011 |
20110288333 | Processes for Producing Acetic Acid - Processes for the reduction and/or removal of permanganate reducing compounds (PRC'S) formed by the carbonylation of methanol in the presence of a Group VIII metal carbonylation catalyst to produce acetic acid are disclosed. More specifically, processes for reducing and/or removing PRC's or their precursors from intermediate streams during the formation of acetic acid by said carbonylation processes are disclosed. In particular, processes in which a low boiling overhead vapor stream from a light ends column is subjected to a distillation to obtain an overhead that is subjected to an extraction to selectively remove and/or reduce PRC's from the process is disclosed. The processes include steps of recycling one or more return streams derived from the distillation step and/or the extraction step to a light ends column and/or a drying column in order to improve water control in the overall reaction system. | 11-24-2011 |
20120036769 | INTEGRATED PROCESS FOR PRODUCING ALCOHOLS FROM A MIXED ACID FEED - Processes for producing alcohols such as ethanol and propanol from a mixed acid feedstock in an integrated process. In one embodiment, the process comprises the step of carbonylating methanol in the presence of a carbonylation catalyst to form a mixed acid feedstock comprising acetic acid and one or more higher acids, preferably comprising propionic acid. The mixed acid feed is hydrogenated in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst to form a crude alcohol product comprising ethanol and one or more higher alcohols, preferably including propanol. | 02-16-2012 |
20120041230 | PROCESS AND SYSTEM FOR SUPPLYING VAPOR FROM DRYING COLUMN TO LIGHT ENDS COLUMN - The present invention is directed to a method of heating a light ends column through directing one or more vapor side streams from a drying column to the light ends column. The present invention is also directed to a carbonylation process for producing acetic acid, wherein one or more vapor streams from a drying column provide the external energy required to drive separation in the light ends column. | 02-16-2012 |
20120059197 | ALCOHOL PRODUCTION PROCESS INTEGRATING ACETIC ACID FEED STREAM COMPRISING WATER FROM CARBONYLATION PROCESS - In one embodiment, the invention is to a process for producing ethanol, comprising the step of providing from a distillation column in a carbonylation process a purified acetic acid stream comprising up to 25 wt. % water. The process further comprises the step of hydrogenating acetic acid of the purified acetic acid stream in the presence of a catalyst and under conditions effective to form a crude ethanol product comprising ethanol and water. Ethanol is recovered from the crude ethanol product. | 03-08-2012 |
20120078012 | PRODUCTION OF ACETIC ACID WITH HIGH CONVERSION RATE - A process for producing acetic acid comprising the steps of reacting carbon monoxide and at least one of methanol and a methanol derivative in a first reactor under conditions effective to produce a crude acetic acid product; separating the crude acetic acid product into at least one derivative stream, at least one of the at least one derivative stream comprising residual carbon monoxide; and reacting at least a portion of the residual carbon monoxide with at least one of methanol and a methanol derivative over a metal catalyst in a second reactor to produce additional acetic acid. | 03-29-2012 |
20120083623 | Production of Acetic Acid with High Conversion Rate - The present invention is to a process for producing acetic acid comprising the step of reacting a carbon monoxide feed and methanol and/or a methanol derivative in a first reactor to produce a crude acetic acid product. The carbon monoxide may comprise less than 99.5 mol % carbon monoxide. The process further comprises the step of purging a carbon monoxide purge stream comprising a first amount of residual carbon monoxide and one or more impurities. Preferably, the first amount is greater than 20 mol %. The process further comprises the step of separating the crude acetic acid product into at least one derivative stream comprising a second amount of residual carbon monoxide. The process further comprises the step of reacting at least a portion of the second amount of residual carbon monoxide and methanol and/or a methanol derivative in a second reactor to produce additional acetic acid. | 04-05-2012 |
20120283472 | Removal of Aromatics from Carbonylation Process - The invention relates to processes for removing aromatics from the reactants that are fed to a carbonylation reactor. The aromatics are removed using a guard bed that comprises an adsorbent. | 11-08-2012 |
20130066107 | Production of Acetic Acid with High Conversion Rate - A process for producing acetic acid comprising the steps of reacting carbon monoxide and at least one of methanol and a methanol derivative in a first reactor under conditions effective to produce a crude acetic acid product; separating the crude acetic acid product into at least one derivative stream, at least one of the at least one derivative stream comprising residual carbon monoxide; and reacting at least a portion of the residual carbon monoxide with at least one of methanol and a methanol derivative over a metal catalyst in a second reactor to produce additional acetic acid. Preferably the second reactor is a homogeneous reactor and a reactor carbon monoxide partial pressure is less than 1.05 MPa. | 03-14-2013 |