Process for the separation of glycols using glycerol

Abstract

A process for the separation of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and 1,2-butanediol (1,2-BDO) from a first mixture including MEG and 1,2-BDO, the process including providing the first mixture of MEG and 1,2-BDO as a feed to a distillation column. The process also includes providing a feed comprising glycerol to the distillation column above the first mixture. The process also includes operating the distillation column at a temperature in the range of from 50 to 250° C. and a pressure in the range of from 0.1 to 400 kPa. The process also includes removing a stream comprising MEG and glycerol as a bottoms stream from the distillation column and removing a stream comprising 1,2-BDO above the point at which the feed comprising glycerol is provided to the distillation column.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.