Separation of 1-butanol from 2-pentanol by extractive distillation

#This invention relates to a method for separating 1-butanol from 2-pentanol using certain organic liquids as the agent in extractive distillation.

#Extractive distillation is the method of separating close boiling compounds from each other by carrying out the distillation in a multiplate rectification column in the presence of an added liquid or liquid mixture, said liquid(s) having a boiling point higher than the compounds being separated. The extractive agent is introduced near the top of the column and flows downward until it reaches the stillpot or reboiler. Its presence on each plate of the rectification column alters the relative volatility of the close boiling compounds in a direction to make the separation on each plate greater and thus require either fewer plates to effect the same separation or make possible a greater degree of separation with the same number of plates. The extractive agent should boil higher than any of the close boiling liquids being separated and not form minimum azeotropes with them. Usually the extractive agent is introduced a few plates from the top of the column to insure that none of the extractive agent is carried over with the lowest boiling component. This usually requires that the extractive agent boil about twenty Celcius degrees or more higher than the highest boiling component.

#At the bottom of a continuous column, the less volatile components of the close boiling mixtures and the extractive agent are continuously removed from the column. The usual methods of separation of these two components are the use of another rectification column, cooling and phase separation, or solvent extraction.

#Twenty-seven grams of 1-butanol, 13 grams of 2-pentanol and 40 grams of ethyl benzene were charged to a vapor-liquid equilibrium still and refluxed for 12 hours. Analysis indicated a vapor composition of 75.5% 1-butanol, 24.5% 2-pentanol; a liquid composition of 70.1% 1-butanol, 29.9% 2-pentanol. This is a relative volatility of 1.3.

#A solution comprising 100 grams of 1-butanol and 100 grams of 2-pentanol was placed in the stillpot of a 5.6 theoretical plate glass perforated plate rectification column. When refluxing began, an extractive agent comprising terpinolene was pumped into the top of the column at a rate of 15 ml/min. The temperature of the extractive agent as it entered the column was 92.degree. C. After establishing the feed rate of the extractive agent, the heat input to the 1-butanol - 2-pentanol in the stillpot was adjusted to give a total reflux rate of 40 ml/min. After 1.5 hours of operation, overhead and bottoms samples were collected and analysed by gas chromatography. The overhead composition was 80.2% 1-butanol, 19.8% 2-pentanol and the bottoms composition was 44.1% 1-butanol, 55.9% 2-pentanol. This gives a relative volatility of 1.34 for each theoretical plate.