Process for producing phenol

摘要

In a process for producing phenol, cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide is cleaved to produce a cleavage effluent stream comprising phenol and cyclohexanone and at least a portion of the cleavage effluent stream is fractionated to produce a first fraction richer in cyclohexanone than the cleavage effluent stream portion and a second fraction richer in phenol and depleted in cyclohexanone as compared with said cleavage effluent stream portion. At least a portion of the second fraction is then contacted with a dehydrogenation catalyst in a dehydrogenation reaction zone under dehydrogenation conditions effective to convert at least a portion of the cyclohexanone in said second fraction portion into phenol and cyclohexanol.

主权项

1. A process for producing phenol, the process comprising:
(a) cleaving cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide to produce a cleavage effluent stream comprising phenol and cyclohexanone in a weight ratio of phenol to cyclohexanone of about 0.7:1 to about 1.5:1; (b) fractionating at least a portion of the cleavage effluent stream to produce
(i) a first fraction richer in cyclohexanone than said portion of the cleavage effluent stream, said first fraction comprising no more than 500 wppm phenol, 0.1 wppm to 400 wppm of cyclohexanol, and 0.1 wppm to 100 wppm of at least one of methylcyclopentanone, cyclohexenol, cyclohexanedione, and hydroxycyclohexanone, said wppm amounts based on the total weight of the first fraction; and(ii) a second fraction richer in phenol and depleted in cyclohexanone than said portion of the cleavage effluent stream, such that the weight ratio of phenol to cyclohexanone in said second fraction is about 2.0:1 to about 2.5:1; (b-1) recovering the first fraction as a cyclohexanone product; and (c) contacting at least a portion of the second fraction with a dehydrogenation catalyst in a dehydrogenation reaction zone under dehydrogenation conditions effective to convert at least a portion of the cyclohexanone in said portion of the second fraction into phenol and cyclohexanol.