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US 5,177,225 AGranted
Process for the production of alkylene oxide
AssigneeThe BOC Group, Inc.
InventorsRamakrishnan Ramachandran, Donald L. MacLean
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Abstract
Disclosed is a process for the production of an alkylene oxide in which an alkene, and an oxygen containing gas are reacted in the presence of a flame suppressor under conditions of low alkene conversion and high alkylene oxide selectivity in which unreacted alkene is recycled to the reactor and there is efficient removal of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
Claims16
A process for the production of an alkylene oxide from a corresponding alkene comprising:
- (a) Feeding the alkene, an oxygen containing gas and a flame suppressor to a reaction zone;
- (b) reacting the alkene and oxygen containing gas in said reaction zone under conditions of low alkene conversion and high selectivity to produce a mixture of alkylene oxide and off gases;
- (c) quenching the mixture obtained in step (b) and removing substantially all of the alkylene oxide from said quenched mixture;
- (d) subjecting all of the alkylene oxide-free off-gases in said quenched mixture to pressure swing adsorption with an adsorbent which preferentially adsorbs unreacted alkene, thereby producing a first stream enriched in unreacted alkene and a second stream enriched in carbon dioxide;
- and
- (e) forwarding all of said first stream to the reaction zone and removing said second stream.
3 more elements
A process for the production of an alkylene oxide from a corresponding alkene comprising:
- (a) Feeding the alkene, an oxygen-containing gas and a flame suppressor to a reaction zone;
- (b) reacting the alkene and oxygen containing gas in said reaction zone under conditions of low alkene conversion and high selectivity to produce a mixture of alkylene oxide and off gases;
- (c) quenching the mixture obtained in step (b) and removing substantially all of the alkylene oxide from said quenched mixture;
- (d) separating the alkene oxide-free off-gases from step (c) into an alkene-enriched stream, a carbon dioxide-enriched stream and a stream enriched in the remaining off-gases by passing all of the off-gases from step (c) through a first pressure swing absorber which contains one of a carbon dioxide absorbent or a hydrocarbon absorbent, then through a second pressure swing adsorber which contains the other of a carbon dioxide absorbent or a hydrocarbon absorbent;
- and
- (e) forwarding all of the alkene-enriched stream to the reaction zone.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.