Processes for producing ethylene glycol from an oxalate

摘要

The invention relates to a method for producing glycol from oxalate, which mainly solves the problem that the prior art is low in the selectivity of target products and short in the regeneration period of catalysts. The method adopts oxalate as raw material, and comprises the following steps that: (a) hydrogen and a first stream of raw material enter a first reaction zone to be in contact with a copper-bearing catalyst I so as to form a first stream of glycol-containing reaction effluent; and (b) the first stream of reaction effluent and a second stream of raw material enter at least one second reaction zone to be in contact with a copper-bearing catalyst II so as to form a second stream of glycol-containing reaction effluent, wherein the molar ratio of the first stream of raw material to the second stream of raw material is 0.1-10:1; the molar ratio of the hydrogen to the sum of the first and second streams of raw material is 20-300:1; the first stream of raw material is selected from dimethyl oxalate, diethyl oxalate or a mixture thereof; and the second stream of raw material is selected from dimethyl oxalate, diethyl oxalate or a mixture thereof. The technical proposal well solves the problem, and the method can be used in the industrial production for increasing the yield of glycol.