Shell Oil Comapny

Stephen Edward Brewer

Joseph Broun Powell

Paul Richard Weider

Zaida Diaz

Robert Lawrence Blackbourn

Glenn Charles Komplin

The present invention is an improvement upon the process for the production of 1,3-propanediol (PDO) wherein an aqueous solution of 3-hydroxypropanal (HPA) is formed, and the HPA is subjected to hydrogenation to produce a crude PDO mixture comprising PDO, water, MW176 acetal, and high and low volatility materials, wherein the crude PDO mixture is dried to produce a first overhead stream comprising water and some high volatility materials and a dried crude PDO mixture as a first distillate bottoms stream comprising PDO, MW176 acetal, and low volatility materials, and wherein the dried crude PDO mixture is distilled to produce a second overhead stream comprising some high volatility materials, a middle stream comprising PDO and MW176 acetal, and a second distillate bottoms stream comprising PDO and low volatility materials. The improvement on this process comprises treating the crude PDO mixture and/or the dried crude PDO mixture and/or the PDO product with an acidic zeolite, an acid form cation exchange resin, or a soluble acid to convert the MW176 cyclic acetal to more volatile materials which can be easily separated from PDO by distillation.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Stephen Edward Brewer