Patent ID: 9388107
Filing Date: 2016-07-12
CPC Classification: C07C,C07D

Claim Text:
1. A process for continuously preparing a mixture of cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol comprising: a) conducting vapor phase hydrogenation of phenol with gaseous hydrogen, in the presence of platinum or palladium, in a vapor phase hydrogenation reactor, to produce a vapor phase hydrogenation product stream comprising cyclohexanone, cyclohexanol, phenol and hydrogen; b) cooling the vapor phase hydrogenation product stream to a temperature such that a fraction of phenol by mass in a first gas phase is lower than a fraction of phenol by mass in a first liquid phase; c) separating the first gas phase from the first liquid phase; d) returning at least part of the first gas phase to the vapor phase hydrogenation reactor; e) heating the first liquid phase; f) purifying the first liquid phase by distillation; wherein the process further comprises transferring heat by an in-process heat exchange from the vapor phase hydrogenation product stream in step b) to at least part of the first gas phase in step d) and/or the first liquid phase in step e).