Patent ID: 9321711
Filing Date: 2016-04-26
CPC Classification: B01D,B01J,C07C

Claim Text:
1. A system for producing phenol and/or cyclohexanone from cyclohexylbenzene, the system comprising: (A) a hydrogenation reactor comprising a bed of hydrogenation catalyst, configured to receive a cyclohexylbenzene feed comprising an olefin and hydrogen and to produce a hydrogenation effluent with a reduced concentration of the olefin compared to the feed; (B) a separation drum in fluid communication with the hydrogenation reactor configured to receive at least a portion of the hydrogenation effluent and to produce a lower drum effluent consisting essentially of a liquid, and an upper drum effluent consisting essentially of a gas; (C) an oxidizing device comprising at least one bubble column reactor in fluid communication with the separation drum configured to receive (i) at least a portion of the lower drum effluent, (ii) a stream of O (D) a concentrator configured to operate under an absolute internal pressure of Pcon, where 133 Pa≦Pcon≦6666 Pa, in fluid communication with the oxidizing device configured to receive at least a portion of the lower oxidation effluent and to produce a lower concentrator effluent comprising at least 30 wt % of cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide, the percentage based on the total weight of the lower concentrator effluent, and an upper concentrator effluent comprising at least 50 wt % of cyclohexylbenzene, the percentage based on the total weight of the upper concentrator effluent; and (E) a cleavage reactor comprising a vessel configured to receive (i) at least a portion of the cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide in the lower concentrator effluent and (ii) a cleavage catalyst and to produce a cleavage reaction effluent comprising phenol, cyclohexanone, and cyclohexylbenzene.