Process for Vaporizing Acetic Acid for Hydrogenation Processes to Produce Ethanol

A process for producing ethanol, comprising the steps of:

• introducing acetic acid in a vaporizer to form a vapor feed stream;
• introducing the vapor feed stream into a reactor;
• hydrogenating acetic acid from the vapor feed stream in the presence of a catalyst to form a crude ethanol product comprising ethanol;
• and
• separating ethanol and at least one recycle stream from the crude ethanol product, wherein the at least one recycle stream comprises acetic acid and less than 1.0 wt. % compounds having a boiling point higher than acetic acid, and wherein the at least one recycle stream is introduced to the vaporizer along with acetic acid to form the vapor feed stream.

A process for producing ethanol, comprising the steps of:

• vaporizing acetic acid in a vaporizer in the presence of hydrogen to form a vapor feed stream comprising vaporized acetic acid;
• introducing the vapor feed stream into a reactor;
• and
• hydrogenating the vaporized acetic acid at an operating pressure of the reactor and in the presence of a catalyst to form a crude ethanol product comprising ethanol, wherein the acetic acid is vaporized at a temperature below acetic acid's boiling point at the operating pressure of the reactor.