Exxonmobil Chemical Patents Inc.

Paul E Burton

Charles Morris Yarbrough

Dennis Jay Davoren

John P Motlow

Timothy P Dean

The invention relates to the production of isopropyl alcohol from di-isopropyl ether by catalytic distillation. The process solves, in particular, problems associated with the Sulfuric Acid Process.

Process for hydrolyzing di-isopropyl ether to isopropyl alcohol by catalytic distillation using a solid acid catalyst

A process for producing high purity isopropyl alcohol. In one embodiment, the process includes the steps of: (a) feeding a feed stream comprising at least about 99.9 wt. % isopropyl alcohol into a separation column; (b) separating the isopropyl alcohol into an overhead stream taken overhead from the separation column and a bottoms stream taken as bottoms from the separation column; and (c) removing the high purity isopropyl alcohol at a point: (i) below where the feed stream enters the separation column but above the bottoms stream, or (ii) above where the feed stream enters the separation column but below the overhead stream. The high purity isopropyl alcohol has a metals content of less than about 1 ppb and a water content of less than about 100 ppm. Optionally, the process includes the step of passing the high purity isopropyl alcohol through an ion exchange resin after removing the high purity isopropyl alcohol from the separation column, thereby forming an ultra-high purity isopropyl alcohol that contains less than 100 ppt of any metal impurity.

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Baton Rouge, LA, United States of America

Paul E Burton