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US 7,842,778 B2Granted
Polyester process using a pipe reactor
AssigneeEastman Chemical Company
InventorBruce Roger DeBruin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention is directed to polyester processes where the esterification process at utilizes a vapor removing device, wherein the vapor removing device is substantially horizontally oriented, wherein the esterification effluent forms a two-phase laminar, stratified, non-circular vapor/liquid flow in at least a portion of said vapor removing device.
Claims44
An esterification process comprising:
- (a) subjecting an esterification feed to esterification in an esterification reactor to thereby produce an esterification effluent;
- and
- (b) separating a vapor portion of said esterification effluent from a liquid portion of said esterification effluent in a vapor removing device, wherein said vapor removing device is substantially horizontally oriented, wherein said esterification effluent forms a two-phase laminar, stratified, non-circular vapor/liquid flow in at least a portion of said vapor removing device.
An esterification apparatus comprising:
- an esterification pipe reactor defining an reactor inlet and a reactor outlet;
- and a vapor removing device defining a fluid inlet coupled in fluid communication with said reactor outlet, wherein said vapor removing device is substantially horizontally oriented, wherein said vapor removing device defines a liquid outlet and a vapor outlet, wherein said vapor outlet is horizontally spaced from said fluid inlet, wherein said vapor outlet is located at a higher elevation than said liquid outlet;
- and wherein the effective inner diameter of said vapor removing device is at least double the effective inner diameter of said esterification reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.