Process for the preparation of ethanol from methanol
US5414161A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 17, 1994 |
| Grant date | May 9, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 17, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02P20/584
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Ethanol is produced economically by a gas phase carbonylation of methanol with carbon monoxide followed by a hydrogenation. Specifically, the inventive process comprises: PA1 (a) carbonylating methanol in a gas phase with carbon monoxide in a carbonylation reactor, said carbon monoxide being optionally in admixture of hydrogen, in the presence of a rhodium catalyst comprised of a rhodium compound and a second metallic component selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a transition metal and a mixture thereof, and supported on an inert material, and a halide co-catalyst under mild carbonylation conditions and a high GHSV(Gas Hourly Space Velocity) of methanol to produce a mixture of acetic acid and methyl acetate; PA1 (b) separating from the production mixture in a distillation column the acetic acid as a high boiling fraction thereof, and a mixture of the methyl acetate and the co-catalyst as a low boiling fraction thereof; PA1 (c) further separating said methyl acetate and the co-catalyst from the low boiling fraction and recycling the separated co-catalyst to the carbonylation reactor; PA1 (d) hydrogenating the separated methyl acetate with …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.