Sulzer Chemtech Ag

Sulzer Management Ag

Laurent Zuber

Stefan Sander

Ilja Ausner

Christian Gottlieb Bachmann

Oliver Bailer

Heinz Meierhofer

Lin Feng Ni

A process for purifying a crude composition comprising rectifying the crude composition in a rectification plant. The rectification plant comprises a rectification column including: a first overhead condenser for condensing a head fraction, and a reboiler for evaporating a bottom fraction. A difference between a temperature of the head fraction and a temperature of the bottom fraction is less than or equal to 20° C. A heat pump is provided between the first overhead condenser and the reboiler. The heat pump is an indirect heat pump that is operated with water or methanol as a refrigerant, and the indirect heat pump includes an expansion valve and a compressor. The heat pump comprises a second condenser located upstream of the compressor.

Process for distilling a crude composition in a rectification plant including an indirect heat pump

A method and plant for obtaining acetic acid and methanol from the hydrolysis of methyl acetate by reactive distillation is disclosed. The reactive distillation column is configured as a divided wall reactive distillation column (). A feed containing water and methyl acetate are brought into contact with a catalyst in a reactive space () to perform the hydrolysis of water and methyl acetate to methanol and acetic acid. The reactive space comprises at least a first rectification zone (), a first stripping zone () and a first reaction zone (). A catalyst is provided in the first reaction zone (). The column further comprises a product space () with at least a second rectification zone () and a second stripping zone (). The second stripping zone () shares at least a portion of the column sump () with the first stripping zone (). A first head product is discharged from a reactive space head portion () and a bottom product is discharged from the column sump () and a second head product is discharged from a product space head portion () and an intermediate product is discharged from the product space ().

Reactive distillation process and plant for obtaining acetic acid and alcohol from the hydrolysis of methyl acetate

The reflux divider for a separation column has portions for the transfer of material arranged in parallel which are mutually bounded by a vertical dividing wall and which include members for the controlled dividing of a liquid to be treated. A reflux divider feeds part flows to the respective portions employing connection lines that are feed from a common container. A restrictor valve is used in one connection line to control the flow based on signals from a pair of flow meters.

Reflux divider for a column having portions for the transfer of material arranged in parallel

Carboxylic acid ester is produced by esterification of carboxylic acid and an alcohol in a catalytic reaction zone of a first column at a pressure not greater than ambient pressure. The resultant sump product is distilled in a reaction zone of a second column at a pressure greater than 1.5 bar to obtain a second liquid sump product containing carboxylic acid ester with an carboxylic acid content of less than 100 ppm by weight at a lower end of the column. Neutralization of the second liquid sump product with a base is not required.

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Winterthur, Switzerland

Laurent Zuber