E.i. Dupont De Nemours and Company

David A Culver

Rinaldo Soria Schiffino

Joel David Citron

Dewey Lynn Kerbow

Stephen Thomas Breske

Bruce M Vrana

Robert G Sylvester

The invention is a process for the purification of ethanol. In one embodiment the process includes boiling a degassed beer feed () in a pre-boiler () to provide a vapor by-pass fraction () that by-passes the conventional beer column and is fed into the rectifier column (). The process allows free capacity in the rectifier column of new or established plants to be filled by ethanol-water vapor and/or condensate streams that do not originate from the beer column.

Process for providing ethanol

&#x3b1;-Olefins are made in a modified plug flow reactor system by the oligomerization of ethylene using an iron complex of a selected diimine of a 2,6-pyridinecarboxaldehyde(bisimine) or 2,6-diacylpyridine(bisimine) as the oligomerization catalyst. The reactor is modified to add the iron complex at two or more points along the length of the plug flow reactor, the distance between addition points being dependent on the half-life of the active ethylene oligomerization catalyst.

Process of producing &#x3b1;-olefins

An efficient manufacturing process for &agr;-olefins using certain iron containing ethylene oligomerization catalysts, comprises one or more liquid full reactors which are approximately at the bubble point of reacting ethylene, and optionally a final reactor which is at a lower pressure than the first reactor, both operating under other specified conditions. This process minimizes both the capital and operating costs for the plant. The &agr;-olefins produced are useful as monomers for polymers and as chemical intermediates, for example for making detergents.

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Salem, NJ, United States of America

David A Culver