The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 13, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 15, 2003
Daniel Brun-buisson, Istres, FR;
Philippe Villegier, Saint-Mitre les Remparts, FR;
Daniel Brun-Buisson, Istres, FR;
Philippe Villegier, Saint-Mitre les Remparts, FR;
BP Chemicals Limited, London, GB;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a continuous process for the manufacture of triethanolamine (TEA) comprising, in succession: (i) a step of synthesizing the TEA by continuously bringing ammonia into contact with ethylene oxide under conditions allowing the formation of a reaction mixture comprising mono-, di- and triethanolamines, (ii) a step of continuously separating the ammonia that has not reacted from the reaction mixture and (iii) a step of continuously separating the TEA from the mixture resulting from step (ii). The process is characterized in that a specific mixture of alkanolamines, comprising TEA and from 0.5 to 50% by weight of at least one secondary dialkanolamine, is prepared or isolated from the mixture resulting from step (ii), and in that the TEA is separated and isolated with a degree of purity equal to or greater than 99.2% by weight, by a continuous distillation of the specific mixture of alkanolamines. The present invention also relates to a colorless TEA having a high purity, that can be obtained by the process according to the invention and especially has a high resistance to coloration.