USE OF PREDEHYDRATION TOWERS IN AN ETHANE OXIDATION TO ACETIC ACID/ETHYLENE PROCESS

摘要

Described herein is a process in which acetic acid is produced by ethane oxidation. One byproduct of the ethane oxidation is water, which is commonly removed from the process in the same stream as the acetic acid process. As described herein, the ethane oxidation reactor effluent is processed in a predehydration tower so as to separately recover water, acetic acid, and a gas stream for recycle back to the ethane oxidation reactor.