Ethyl tertio-butyl ether purification process combining a membrane method and distillation
US5607557A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 28, 1995 |
| Grant date | Mar 4, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 28, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S203/20
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A process for separating a mixture containing mainly ethyl tertio-butyl ether (ETBE), ethanol and C.sub.4 hydrocarbons includes introducing the mixture to be separated into a debutanizer from which the C.sub.4 hydrocarbons are recovered overhead with a fraction of the ethanol, and purified ETBE is recovered as a bottom product; a side stream of an ethanol-rich phase is extracted and sent to a permeation zone in which the dense film of the membrane is constituted by a N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate polymer (DMAEMA) or a copolymer of DMAEMA with N-vinylcaprolactam (NVCL) and/or with N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP); the ethanol-depleted retentate from this permeation zone is returned to the debutanizer and the permeate contains mainly separated ethanol. The process can be integrated into an ETBE production process, in which the ethanol separated during the permeation step is recycled to the etherification reactor. The debutanizer may be replaced by a catalytic distillation column.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.