Henkel Kommanditgesellschaft Auf Aktien

Cognis Deutschland Gmbh & Co. Kg

Udo Kreutzer

Franz-Josef Carduck

Guenther Demmering

Hubert Harth

Gerd Goebel

Lothar Friesenhagen

Theo Fleckenstein

Eberhard Peukert

Klaus Koester

Roland Hourticolon

Hans-Peter Kubersky

Juergen Latzel

Friedrich Hommers

Hans-Guenther Richard

Hans-Joachim Richtler

Naturally occurring fats, oils and fatty derivatives are continuously hydrogenated to fatty alcohols in a fixed-bed reactor in the presence of hydrogen in excess and hydrogenation catalysts under static pressures of 50 to 300 bar and at temperatures of 160 to 320&deg; C. The liquid product is cooled and the excess hydrogen is returned to the reactor entrance by a gas circulation pump as a recycle gas after separation of the liquid product. The expense involved in cooling and reheating the recycle gas is eliminated without any reduction in the quality of the fatty alcohol produced providing the recycle gas is returned to the reactor entrance without reheating and the hydrogenation reaction is carried out under static pressures of at least 200 bar.

Process for the production of fatty alcohols

Hydrogenation process

For the production of solid, substantially anhydrous alkali metal salts of .alpha.-sulfofatty acid alkyl esters containing from 8 to 22 carbon atoms in the fatty acid chain and from 1 to 6 carbon atoms in the ester alkyl radical, solid or molten .alpha.-sulfofatty acid alkyl esters are simltaneously mixed with an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide or an H.sub.2 O.sub.2 -yielding compound and with solid alkali metal carbonate at a temperature of from 20.degree. to 80.degree. C. optionally in the presence of aqueous alkali metal hydroxide, the ratio by weight of ester of H.sub.2 O.sub.2 being from 1:0.01 to 1:0.06 and the molar ratio of ester to alkali metal carbonate being in the range of from 1:0.5 to 1:0.75, the foam formed through the release of CO.sub.2 is mechanically destroyed under a pressure of from 0.2 to 1.0 bar and at a temperature of from 50.degree. to 70.degree. C., and the product formed is residually degassed and residually dehydrated under a pressure of from 15 to 50 mbar and a temperature of from 50.degree. to 80.degree. C.

Process for simultaneous bleaching and neutralization of

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Monheim, Germany

Udo Kreutzer