Eastman Chemical Company

Robert Scott Huss

Craig Alan Hoyme

Jerome Leonard Stavinoha, Jr

Damon Ray Billodeaux

Daniel Latham Terrill

Mesfin Ejerssa Janka

Scott Donald Barnicki

Robert Thomas Hembre

Timothy Alan Upshaw

Xiaopeng Shan

Joseph Jerome Puhr

Stephanie Rollins Testerman

Dewey Wayne Fuller, Jr

The present disclosure relates to a process for producing high-purity acrylic acid using a dividing wall distillation column and in some instances using water as an entrainer and azeotroping agent. This disclosure provides a process for separating acrylic acid from recovered feed streams which comprise saturated organic acids including propionic acid. The resulting acrylic acid product is of sufficient purity to produce acrylate esters and high molecular weight acrylic acid polymers.

Acrylic acid purification via dividing wall columns

Processes and systems for separating a mixture of three or more chemical components into multiple product streams each enriched in one of the components are provided herein. In some aspects, the present invention relates to processes for the separation of a chemical mixture including at least a heavy key component, an intermediate key component, and a light key component to form a product stream enriched in the light key component, a product stream enriched in the intermediate key component, and a product stream enriched in the heavy key component. Systems described herein may include one or more thermally coupled distillation columns including, for example, a dividing wall column, or a plurality of distillation columns arranged in a thermally integrated configuration.

Thermally integrated distillation systems and processes using the same

A transfer-hydrogenation process for preparing a carbonyl compound and an alcohol compound comprises the steps of (a) contacting a first carbonyl compound with a first alcohol compound in the presence of a transfer-hydrogenation catalyst in a first reaction zone at conditions effective to form a second carbonyl compound from the first alcohol compound and a second alcohol compound from the first carbonyl compound, and (b) removing the second carbonyl compound from the first reaction zone during step (a). The first carbonyl compound is a saturated aldehyde or ketone, or an &#x3b1;,&#x3b2;-unsaturated aldehyde or ketone. The first alcohol compound is a primary or secondary alcohol. The second alcohol compound is &#x3b1;,&#x3b2;-saturated. The transfer-hydrogenation catalyst includes a Group 8 to 11 metal. This process is useful for preparing and higher value alcohols, such as butanol or 2-ethylhexanol, from the corresponding carbonyl compounds by engaging lower alcohol (C-C) feedstocks instead of hydrogen (H).

Transfer-hydrogenation process

Cyclic acetals can be produced in a reactive distillation apparatus by combining a polyhydroxyl compound and an aldehyde. High concentrations of cyclic acetals are removed as liquid products from the column while water is removed as an overhead vapor stream.

Production of cyclic acetals by reactive distillation

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Kingsport, TN, United States of America

Robert Scott Huss