Process to continuously prepare a cyclic carbonate

A process to continuously prepare a cyclic carbonate product by reacting an epoxide compound with carbon dioxide in the presence of a supported dimeric aluminium salen complex which catalyst is activated by a halide compound,

• wherein the process is performed in a reactor comprising a slurry of the supported dimeric aluminium salen complex and the cyclic carbonate product as present as a liquid and wherein to the reactor carbon dioxide and the epoxide compound is continuously supplied and a liquid cyclic carbonate product stream comprising part of the halide compound and dissolved epoxide compound is discharged while substantially all of the supported dimeric aluminium salen complex remains in the reactor,
• wherein the cyclic carbonate product as present in the liquid cyclic carbonate product stream is separated from the halide compound in a distillation step wherein a purified cyclic carbonate product is obtained as a bottom product of the distillation step and wherein between the reactor and the distillation step the liquid cyclic carbonate product stream passes one or more buffer vessels, wherein the total volume of the one or more buffer vessels expressed in m3 relative to the amount of dimeric aluminium salen complex as present in the reactor and expressed in kmol is between 5 and 50 m3/kmol.