Recovery of anhydrous acids

A process for recovering a C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 carboxylic acid from a gaseous mixture comprising said carboxylic acid and water, said carboxylic acid being a monocarboxylic acid or a dicarboxylic acid and being composed only of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, said process comprising:

• (a) in a gas absorption zone, intimately contacting said gaseous mixture, while maintained in the vapor phase, with a solvent which is maintained in the liquid phase whereby C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 carboxylic acid is absorbed from said gaseous mixture into said solvent, said solvent comprising a polymer of the formula:
• R.sub.1 --O--(X)--R.sub.2 I
• wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 may be alike or different and are hydrogen or alkyl groups of 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and wherein X is a divalent polyoxyalkylene radical consisting essentially of repeating oxyalkylene units of the formula:
• ##STR2## wherein R.sub.3 is hydrogen or a lower alkyl radical of from 1 to 6 carbon atoms and wherein R.sub.3 may be alike or different on the repeating oxyalkylene units, said polymer having a molecular weight within the range of about 250 to 5,000, the intimate contact of said gaseous mixture and said solvent being accomplished at a temperature which is below the boiling point of said solvent at the pressure involved and which is above the dew point of said gaseous mixture at the pressure involved so as to prevent condensation of the water from said gaseous mixture;
• and, (b) removing from said gas absorption zone a liquid, acid enriched solvent fraction consisting essentially of said solvent having C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 carboxylic acid absorbed therein, and recovering C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 carboxylic acid from said solvent fraction.