Optimized liquid-phase oxidation
OwnerAlan Wonders, Lee Partin +3inventors
InventorsAlan Wonders, Lee Partin, Wayne Scott Strasser, Marcel de Vreede, Puneet Gupta
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Abstract
Disclosed is an optimized process and apparatus for more efficiently and economically carrying out the liquid-phase oxidation of an oxidizable compound. Such liquid-phase oxidation is carried out in a bubble column reactor that provides for a highly efficient reaction at relatively low temperatures. When the oxidized compound is para-xylene and the product from the oxidation reaction is crude terephthalic acid (CTA), such CTA product can be purified and separated by more economical techniques than could be employed if the CTA were formed by a conventional high-temperature oxidation process.
Claims44
A process comprising:
- (a) introducing an oxidant stream comprising molecular oxygen into a reaction zone of a bubble column reactor;
- (b) introducing a feed stream comprising an oxidizable compound into said reaction zone, wherein said feed stream is introduced into said reaction zone in a manner such that when said reaction zone is theoretically partitioned into 4 vertical quadrants of equal volume by a pair of intersecting vertical planes, not more than about 80 weight percent of said oxidizable compound enters said reaction zone in a common one of said vertical quadrants;
- and
- (c) oxidizing at least a portion of said oxidizable compound in a liquid phase of a multi-phase reaction medium contained in said reaction zone.
A process comprising:
- (a) introducing an oxidant stream comprising para-xylene into a reaction zone of a bubble column reactor;
- (b) introducing a feed stream comprising an oxidizable compound into said reaction zone via a plurality of feed openings, wherein said reaction zone has a maximum diameter (D), wherein at least two of said feed openings are spaced from one another by at least about 0.5 D;
- and
- (c) oxidizing at least a portion of said oxidizable compound in a liquid phase of a multi-phase reaction medium contained in said reaction zone to thereby form crude terephthalic acid particles.
A process for producing terephthalic acid, said process comprising:
- (a) introducing an oxidant stream comprising molecular oxygen into a reaction zone of a bubble column reactor;
- (b) introducing a feed stream comprising para-xylene into said reaction zone, wherein said para-xylene enters said reaction zone in a manner such that when said reaction zone is theoretically partitioned into 4 vertical quadrants of equal volume by a pair of intersecting vertical planes, not more than about 80 weight percent of said para-xylene enters said reaction zone in a single one of said vertical quadrants;
- (c) oxidizing at least a portion of said para-xylene in a liquid phase of said reaction medium contained in said reaction zone to thereby form crude terephthalic acid;
- and
- (d) oxidizing at least a portion of said crude terephthalic acid in a secondary oxidation reactor to thereby form purer terephthalic acid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.