METHOD OF RECOVERING TERT-BUTYL HYDROPEROXIDE AND TERT-BUTYL ALCOHOL

摘要

Propylene oxide (30) and tertiary butyl alcohol (40) are prepared by reacting propylene (12) and tertiary butyl hydroperoxide (16) in an epoxidation reaction zone (10) in solution in tertiary butyl alcohol in the presence of a soluble molybdenum catalyst (14) to provide an epoxidation reaction product (18) comprising unreacted propylene, unreacted tertiary butyl hydroperoxide, tertiary butyl alcohol, dissolved molybdenum catalyst and impurities, including aliphatic C1-C4 carboxylic acids. The epoxidation reaction product (18) is resolved in a distillation zone into a distillate propylene fraction (22), a distillate propylene oxide fraction (30), a distillate tertiary butyl alcohol fraction (40) and a heavy liquid distillation fraction (50) composed primarily of tertiary butyl hydroperoxide, tertiary butyl alcohol, the dissolved molybdenum catalyst, and impurities including lower aliphatic C1 -C4 carboxylic acids. The addition to said heavy liquid distillation fraction (50) of 5 to 10 wt.%, based on the weight of said heavy liquid distillation fraction, of a lower aliphatic alcohol (72) having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, avoids icing up of a falling film evaporator (60) when the heavy fraction (50) is resolved therein at a temperature of 20 to 150 DEG C and a pressure of 1 to 200 mm Hg (0.133 to 26.7 KPa) into a liquid residue fraction (64) comprising tertiary butyl hydroperoxide, tertiary butyl alcohol and impurities, including substantially all of the molybdenum contained in said heavy liquid fraction (50), and an evaporated overhead fraction (62) comprising 80 to 95 wt.% of the charged heavy liquid distillation fraction, and containing substantially all of the lower aliphatic alcohol initially charged to said falling film evaporator (20) and also containing from 60 to 90 wt.% of tertiary butyl alcohol, 1 to 20 wt.% of tertiary butyl hydroperoxide and, correspondingly, 3 to 15 wt.% of impurities, including a portion of said aliphatic C1 -C4 carboxylic acid impurities, and separating said lower aliphatic alcohol from the other components of said evaporated overhead fraction and recycling said separated lower aliphatic alcohol (84, 88, 72) to said falling film evaporator (60) as at least a portion of the lower aliphatic alcohol (72).