Process for the production of vinyl acetate
AssigneeBP Chemicals Limited
InventorsJohn William Couves, Simon James Kitchen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for the production of vinyl acetate which comprises contacting ethylene, acetic acid and an oxygen-containing gas with a supported palladium catalyst prepared by a process comprising the steps of (a) impregnating a catalyst support with a palladium compound, (b) converting the palladium compound to substantially metallic palladium, and (c) sintering the supported palladium at a temperature of greater than 500° C.
Claims12
A process for the production of vinyl acetate which process comprises contacting ethylene, acetic acid and an oxygen-containing gas with a supported palladium catalyst prepared by a process comprising the steps (a) impregnating a catalyst support with a palladium compound, (b) converting the palladium compound to substantially metallic palladium, and (c) sintering the supported palladium at a temperature of greater than 500° C.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the palladium compound is palladium acetate, sulphate, nitrate, chloride or a halogen-containing palladium salt.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which step (b) is carried out by contacting the palladium compound with a liquid or gaseous reducing agent selected from aqueous hydrazine, formaldehyde, sodium, formate, alcohol, carbon monoxide, hydrogen or ethylene
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein step (c) is carried out at a temperature in the range of from 650 to 1000° C.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein step (c) is carried out in the presence of a gas
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the palladium catalyst comprises at least 0.5% by weight palladium based upon the total weight of the catalyst
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the catalyst support comprises porous silica, alumina, silica/alumina, titania, zirconia or carbon.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the palladium support is impregnated in step (a) with gold, copper, nickel, one or more salts of Group I, II, Ianthanide or transition metals.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the ethylene, acetic acid and oxygen-containing gas is contacted with the catalyst at a temperature in the range of 145 to 195° C. and a pressure of from 1 to 20 atmospheres
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.