Safe method for producing alkyl nitrate

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for producing alkyl nitrate. The centrifugal extraction equipment acts as the esterification separator; a mixed acid solution containing sulfuric acid and nitric acid enters from the heavy phase inlet of the centrifugal extraction equipment; alkyl alcohol enters from the light phase inlet of the centrifugal extraction equipment; the feeding molar ratio of alkyl alcohol and nitric acid equals to 1:1.0-3.0; esterification reaction occurs with the mixed acid and alkyl alcohol at a temperature of 10˜60° C. under the rotating speed of 800-2000 r/min; under the action of centrifugal force, the generated coarse ester as a light phase and the spent acid as a heavy phase are separated; coarse ester as a light phase is discharged through the light-phase outlet of the centrifugal extractor; the spent acid as a heavy phase is discharged through the heavy-phase outlet of the centrifugal extractor; after alkali washing and water washing conventionally, coarse ester is dehydrated for drying and purified, then the refining products of alkyl nitrate is obtained. In the method of the present invention, esterification reaction, the separation of reaction products and the spent acid are finished in the same reactor simultaneously, which reduces the contact time of reaction products with the spent acid greatly, avoids the side reaction effectively, and ensures the safety of esterification process.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.