Bp Chemicals Limited

The British Petroleum Company, P.l.c.

Bp Chemicals Limited & British Petroleum Co. P.l.c.

Derrick John Watson

Bruce Leo Williams

Simon Jobson

Kirsten Everald Clode

John Glenn Sunley

Michael David Jones

Stephen R Tennison

Stephen James Smith

Jeremy B Cooper

Robert John Watt

Euan S Ross

Andrew R McClarron

Simon D Aubigne

Carl Josef Vercauteren

Robert Edward Allan

Carl Jozef Vercauteren

Acetic acid and/or vinyl acetate are produced by an integrated process which comprises the steps:

Integrated process for the production of vinyl acetate and/or acetic acid

1. Acetic acid and/or vinyl acetate are produced by an integrated process which comprises the steps:&#x2014;

Apparatus for performing integrated process for reproduction of vinyl acetate and/or acetic acid using a fluidized bed

A process for the co-production of acetic anhydride and acetic acid which process comprises introducing a carbonylatable feedstock comprising methyl acetate and/or dimethyl ether and optionally also comprising methanol and/or water, to a carbonylation reactor in which there is maintained a liquid reaction composition comprising acetic anhydride, acetic acid, rhodium carbonylation catalyst, alkyl iodide co-catalyst and an iodide salt promoter consisting essentially of an alkali metal iodide and/or alkaline earth metal iodide, contacting said carbonylatable feedstock with carbon monoxide in said liquid reaction composition to produce acetic anhydride and acetic acid, and introducing to the carbonylation reactor methyl formate and/or formic acid in the range from 0.1 to 20% by weight of the total feed of liquid components to the reactor.

Process for the co-production of acetic anhydride and acetic acid

A process for removing higher organic iodides, including hexyl iodide, from an acetic acid product obtained by carbonylating methanol and/or a reactive derivative thereof in the presence of a finite concentration of water, Group VIII noble metal catalyst, methyl iodide as co-catalyst, and optionally a catalyst promoter, which process includes the step of subjecting an aqueous composition comprising acetic acid and at least one higher organic iodide to distillation in a column, or section of a column, separating water overhead from a dry acetic acid fraction, wherein the water concentration on the feed tray of the column, or section of the column, is greater than 8% by weight and the water concentration in the head of the column, and/or section of the column, is greater than 70% by weight.

Carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid with removal of impurities from the product

Acetic acid and/or vinyl acetate are produced by an integrated process in which a gaseous feedstock comprising ethylene and/or ethane and optionally steam is contacted in a first reaction zone (step (a)) with a molecular oxygen-containing gas in the presence of a catalyst active for the oxidation of ethylene to acetic acid and/or ethane to acetic acid and ethylene to produce a first product stream comprising acetic acid, water and ethylene (either as unreacted ethylene and/or as co-produced ethylene) and optionally also ethane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen. At least a portion of the first gaseous product stream comprising at least acetic acid and ethylene and optionally also one or more of water, ethane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen is contacted in a second reaction zone (step (b)) in the presence or absence of additional ethylene and/or acetic acid with a molecular oxygen-containing gas in the presence of a catalyst active for the production of vinyl acetate to produce a second product stream comprising vinyl acetate, water, acetic acid and optionally ethylene. The second product stream is separated by distillation (step (c)) into an overhead azeotrope fraction comprising vinyl acetate and water and a base fraction comprising acetic acid. The process then comprises either (i) recovering acetic acid from the base fraction separated in step (c) and optionally recycling the azeotrope fraction separated in step (c) after partial or complete separation of the water therefrom to step (c), or (ii) recovering vinyl acetate from the azeotrope fraction separated in step (c) and optionally recycling the base fraction separated in step (c) to step (b), or (iii) recovering acetic acid from the base fraction separated in step (c) and recovering vinyl acetate from the overhead azeotrope fraction recovered in step (c).

Integrated process for the production of vinyl acetate and/or acetic acid using a fluidized bed

1. Acetic acid and/or vinyl acetate are produced by an integrated process which comprises the steps:

A process for the recovery of a carbonylation product from a liquid reaction composition of an iridium-catalysed carbonylation reaction of a carbonylatable reactant comprises subjecting the composition to a vaporization with or without the addition of heat to produce a vapor-fraction and a liquid fraction, the vapor fraction comprises carbonylation product and the liquid fraction has a water concentration of at least 0.5% by weight to stabilize the iridium catalyst.

Process for the recovery of a carbonylation product

A process for the recovery of a carbonylation product from a liquid reaction composition of an iridium-catalysed carbonylation reaction of a carbonylatable reactant includes subjecting the composition to a vaporization with or without the addition of heat to produce a vapor-fraction and a liquid fraction, the vapor fraction includes carbonylation product and the liquid fraction has a water concentration of at least 0.5% by weight to stabilise the iridium catalyst.

A process for separating components of a liquid mixture comprising a more adsorbable component (A), for example C.sub.1 to C.sub.6 carboxylic acids, and a less adsorbable component (B), for example water, wherein the relative adsorbity of component (A), component (B) and a desorbent liquid (D) with respect to an adsorbent in an adsorption column is in the order D&gt;A&gt;B, which process comprises the steps in sequence of: (a) passing the liquid mixture through an adsorption column containing the adsorbent and selectively adsorbing component (A) while discharging a stream enriched in component (B); (b) rinsing the adsorbent in the adsorption column after step (a) with desorbent liquid (D) which is immiscible with component (B) whereby component (A) is displaced from adsorbent by desorbent (D) and withdrawing from the adsorption column a first liquid phase stream comprising a mixture of component (A) and component (B) and withdrawing from the adsorption column a second liquid phase stream comprising a mixture of desorbent (D) and component (A); and (c) thermally displacing desorbent (D) from the adsorbent in the adsorption column after step (b). Preferably, the desorbent (D) forms an azeotrope with component (B). Suitable adsorbents are highly micro-porous activated carbons.

Process for separating components of a liquid mixture

Corrosion metal contaminants are removed from a liquid composition comprising a carboxylic acid and/or an anhydride thereof, a rhodium carbonylation catalyst, and a carbonylation catalyst co-promoter by using a chelating resin selective for the removal of corrosion metals rather than carbonylation catalyst and co-promoter.

Process for the removal of corrosion metal contaminants from liquid

In a process for the production of acetic acid by carbonylation of methanol in the presence of a rhodium carbonylation catalyst, methyl iodide and an iodide salt stabiliser the improvement resides in maintaining a finite concentration of water of up to about 10% by weight and a methyl acetate concentration of at least 2% by weight in the liquid reaction composition and recovering the acetic acid product by passing the liquid reaction composition through a flash zone to produce a vapour fraction which is passed to a single distillation column from which an acetic acid product is removed.

Process for the production of acetic acid

A process for the production of a carboxylic acid anhydride comprises contacting a reaction composition comprising a carboxylic acid ester, a hydrocarbyl halide and/or a hydrocarbyl ether reactant and a hydrocarbyl halide promoter with carbon monoxide in the presence of a catalyst comprising an insoluble polymer support having pendant quaternised N-base or alkylated N-oxide pyridine groups supporting a rhodium species in which process the rhodium species is prevented from leaching from the polymer support by maintaining throughout the process a finite concentration of carboxylic acid anhydride in the reaction composition.

Process for the production of carboxylic acid anhydrides

In a process for removing iodide compounds from a liquid composition comprising carboxylic acids having 2 to 6 carbon atoms or anhydrides thereof, by passing the liquid composition through a silver, mercury, palladium and/or rhodium-exchanged strong acid cation exchange resin, prior to contacting with the metal-exchanged resin the composition is contacted with a cation exchanger in the acid form to remove at least a portion of the metal ion contaminants in the liquid composition which have been found to displace the silver, mercury, palladium and/or rhodium from the metal-exchanged resin.

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Hornsea, United Kingdom

Derrick John Watson