Process for separating water from mixtures thereof with vinyl acetate and acetic acid

US4353783A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Hoechst GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Gunter Roscher · Kelkheim, DE
• Karl-Heinz Schmidt · Waldkraiburg, DE
• Horst Langner · Hattersheim, DE
• Hermann Neu · Neu-Isenburg, DE
• Aladar Lienerth · Kelkheim, DE
• Dominik Dempf · Mehring, DE
• Klaus Kaiser · Neustadt, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 29, 1980
• Grant date: Oct 12, 1982
• Expiry date: Oct 29, 2000

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B01J2219/1942
• WIPO field: Organic fine chemistry
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Process for separating water from a gas mixture, obtained in the manufacture of vinyl acetate by reacting ethylene with acetic acid and oxygen in contact with catalysts containing palladium or palladium compounds in the gaseous phase said gas mixture consisting essentially of acetic acid, vinyl acetate, water, carbon dioxide and ethylene, wherein PA1 (a) the gas mixture leaving the reaction zone is condensed to give a condensate containing the major portion of acetic acid, vinyl acetate and water and PA1 (b) an acetic acid solution containing the residual amount of vinyl acetate and water being prepared by absorption of the non-condensed gas in acetic acid, is characterized in that PA1 (c) the condensate obtained in step (a) and the solution obtained in step (b) are introduced separately from each other into the same distillation column, the feeding point of the condensate being above the feeding point of the solution, the water is distilled off at the head of said column as azeotrope together with the vinyl acetate and PA1 (d) the water phase is removed from the distillate separating into a water phase and a vinyl acetate phase.