Chemische Werke Huls Aktiengesellschaft

Wilfried Uhlenbrock

Ferdinand List

Norbert Wilke

Kurt Wember

The process of recovering methanolic mother liquor obtained by the esterification of terephthalic acid with methanol, where the terephthalic acid may be unprepurified, is improved by adjusting to a specific gravity of about 0.85 - 0.98 by addition of water and/or methanol distillate, a mother liquor containing esterification water and dissolved solids at a concentration of about 1.0 to 6.0 percent by weight and cooling the mother liquor from a temperature of about 65.degree. - 85.degree. C to a temperature of about 10.degree. - 30.degree. C to separate the solids and remove the separated solids. The separated solids may be recycled into the esterification reaction and the unseparated solids may be recycled for oxidation to terephthalic acid following distillation to remove the methanol.

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Bochum, Germany

Wilfried Uhlenbrock