Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series – Organic compounds – Oxygen containing
Patent
1997-12-22
1999-12-14
Geist, Gary
Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series
Organic compounds
Oxygen containing
568814, C07C 29149
Patent
active
060020547
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an improved method for producing an alcohol comprising the steps of continuously feeding starting materials of an alcohol in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst and carrying out catalytic reduction reaction to give an alcohol.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for producing an alcohol wherein the amounts of components which are normally contained in the product alcohols, such as unreacted starting materials of alcohols, wax esters formed as reaction intermediates, and hydrocarbons formed as by-products are remarkably lowered to such an extent that a purification step, such as distillation, is not necessitated, thereby notably improving the yield of an alcohol. Moreover, it relates to a method for producing an alcohol wherein the amounts of the hydrocarbons formed as by-products are lowered and particular wax esters formed as reaction intermediates are selectively kept in the reaction system, so that separation, recovery, and recycle in subsequent processes are made easy, thereby making necessary amounts of hydrogen low, and thus making it highly economically advantageous.
BACKGROUND ART
Methods for producing alcohols comprising carrying out reduction reaction of starting materials of an alcohol, such as a fatty acid ester, a fatty acid triglyceride, and a fatty acid, in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst have been already known in the field of art. The reduction reaction is generally carried out under conditions of a pressure of from 200 to 300 atm. and a temperature of from 200 to 300.degree. C. In view of carrying out such methods in an actual production plant, however, a process at such a high pressure requires not only equipments with sufficient pressure resistance but also sufficient maintenance of the equipments for keeping air-tightness and the like. Such equipments would require high equipment investments and high running costs.
In order to overcome these problems and produce alcohols at lower costs, various studies have been recently made on hydrogenation reaction at a relatively low pressure. The results of the studies are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 4-72810, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-47726, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 4-504408 and Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 4-57655.
Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 4-72810 discloses a method for producing a fatty acid alcohol comprising hydrogenating a fatty acid having a number of carbon atoms corresponding to the resulting alcohol, or an ester thereof at a reaction pressure of from 20 to 100 bar and a reaction temperature of from 150 to 300.degree. C. Similarly, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-47726 discloses a method for hydrogenating a fatty acid methyl ester in a molar ratio of hydrogen to ester of from 10:1 to 500:1 at a reaction pressure of from 20 to 100 bar and a reaction temperature of 160 to 270.degree. C.
Under the above-mentioned conditions, a fatty acid or an ester thereof remaining as unreacted starting materials and a wax ester formed as a reaction intermediate are included in the resulting alcohol at the outlet of the reactor, and hence, the yield of alcohol is liable to be lowered. The reasons for a low yield of alcohol are as follows: In the hydrogenation reaction, the amount of hydrogen dissolved in a liquid phase comprising a fatty acid or an ester thereof in the reaction system is decreased as the reaction pressure is decreased, thereby drastically lowering the reaction activity. In addition, the chemical reaction for producing an alcohol is an equilibrium reaction, and the equilibrium shifts to the side where a wax ester formed as the reaction intermediate remains in the resulting alcohol at the given pressure conditions mentioned above. Furthermore, the resulting alcohol is also reduced to hydrocarbons under the above-mentioned conditions, which leads to a further decrease in the yield of the alcohol. Additionally, in the case where a fatty acid having 8 to 18 carbo
REFERENCES:
patent: 4413063 (1983-11-01), Audibert et al.
patent: 5233099 (1993-08-01), Tabata et al.
Nishigaki Futoshi
Tabata Osamu
Ueoka Hideaki
Geist Gary
Kao Corporation
Padmanabhan Sreeni
LandOfFree
Method for producing alcohol does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method for producing alcohol, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method for producing alcohol will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-865196