Liquid esterification method to produce ester feed for hydrogenolysis

摘要

Disclosed herein are processes for alcohol production by reducing an esterification product, such as ethyl acetate. The processes comprise esterifying, in the liquid phase, acetic acid and an alcohol such as ethanol to produce an esterification product. The esterification product is reduced with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to obtain a crude reaction mixture comprising the alcohol, in particular ethanol, which may be separated from the crude reaction mixture.

主权项

1. A method of producing ethanol comprising:
reacting acetic acid and ethanol in a first reaction zone, wherein the molar ratio of acetic acid to ethanol is greater than 1.5:1; recovering and condensing vapors formed in the first reaction zone in a distillation zone as a condensed overhead; biphasically separating at least a portion of the condensed overhead in a decanter into an organic phase comprising ethyl acetate and ethanol, and an aqueous phase comprising ethanol and water; and reacting at least a portion of the organic phase with hydrogen in a second reaction zone to produce ethanol.