Process for producing pure terephthalic acid with improved recovery of precursors, solvent and methyl acetate

In a continuous process for producing pure terephthalic acid by (a) first reacting paraxylene with air in the presence of acetic acid and a catalyst at elevated pressure and temperature to produce crude terephthalic acid;

• (b) recovering the crude terephthalic acid, including an amount of residual acetic acid and paratoluic acid, as a wet cake;
• and (c) purifying the crude terephthalic acid by mixing it with water and raising the temperature and pressure of the mixture to form an aqueous solution, contacting the aqueous solution with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst, adjusting the pressure and temperature of the hydrogenated solution whereby pure terephthalic acid crystals precipitate and residual acetic acid and paratoluic acid remain in the hydrogenated solution to form a pure plant mother liquor, and recovering the pure terephthalic acid crystals from the pure plant mother liquor, the improvement comprising:
• (i) contacting said pure plant mother liquor with paraxylene to form a two-phase system comprising an aquoues phase which contains residual acetic acid and an organic phase which contains paratoluic acid and paraxylene;
• (ii) returning the organic phase to the oxidation reaction of step (a);
• (iii) feeding the aqueous phase to at least one additional contacting device simultaneously with a condensate stream comprising water, methyl acetate and organic components to form a second aqueous phase and a second organic phase across which methyl acetate and residual acetic acid partition;
• and
• (iv) recovering methyl acetate from the second aqueous phase and recovering acetic acid from the second organic phase.