# US 9,040,746 B2 · Systems and processes for the production of isophthalic acid and terephthalic acid

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- Number: US 9,040,746 B2
- Document ID: US9040746B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 12/933,413
- Filed: 2009-03-18
- Published: 2011-03-10
- Granted: 2015-05-26
- Earliest claimed: 2008-03-18
- Assignees: GTC Technology US LLC
- Applicants: George A. Ball; Joseph G. Gentry; Joseph P. Weller; Zhongyi Ding; Weihua Jin
- Inventors: George A. Ball; Joseph G. Gentry; Joseph P. Weller; Zhongyi Ding; Weihua Jin
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9040746B2

## CPC

- C07C 7/005: {Processes comprising at least two steps in series}
- C07C 51/265: having alkyl side chains which are oxidised to carboxyl groups
- C07C: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS

## Abstract

Various embodiments of the present invention generally disclose systems and processes for the conversion of a feed stream comprising at least one C8 aromatic into a product stream comprising isophthalic acid and purified terephthalic acid (IPA/TA).

## Claims

### Claim 1

A process for converting a feed stream comprising at least ortho-xylene, meta-xylene, para-xylene, and ethylbenzene into at least one product stream comprising isophthalic acid and terephthalic acid (IPA/TA), said process comprising the steps of:
a. providing said feed stream comprising 1 to 25 wt % ethylbenzene, 20 to 80 wt % meta-xylene, 5 to 30 wt % ortho-xylene and 0.5 to 20 wt % para-xylene;
b. removing ethylbenzene from said feed stream to produce an ethylbenzene depleted feed stream by using selective adsorption onto a molecular sieve type of media;
c. removing ortho-xylene from said ethylbenzene depleted feed stream to produce an ortho-xylene and ethylbenzene depleted feed stream containing meta-xylene and para-xylene;
d. oxidizing said ortho-xylene and ethylbenzene depleted feed stream to produce a product stream, said product stream comprising IPA/TA in a ratio of 1:5 to 5:1, wherein the oxidizing step is carried out using a catalyst that is selected from the group consisting of cobalt, manganese and palladium and includes a hydrogenation promoter and is carried out at a temperature ranging from 200° C. to 550° C., a pressure ranging from 0 psig to 1000 psig, a WHSV of between 0.1 hr−1 to 200 hr−1 and a hydrogen/hydrocarbon molar ratio of between 1 and 5;
e. drying said product stream in a dryer to remove residual solvent and water;
f. removing a substantially purified IPA/TA product stream;
g. dissolving said product stream; and
h. separating said IPA and said TA from said dissolved product stream.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, further comprising adding one of either para-xylene or meta-xylene to said ethylbenzene depleted and ortho-xylene depleted feed stream.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein said feed stream comprises a mixed xylene feed stream comprising about 20% ethyl benzene, about 20% ortho-xylene, about 40% meta-xylene, and about 20% para-xylene.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The process of claim 3, wherein said feed stream comes from at least one of a catalytic reforming unit or process, a steam cracking unit or process, a coking unit or process, a pyrolysis oil unit or process, an aromatics alkylation unit or process, or transalkylation.