Patent ID: 6809217
Filing Date: 2004-10-26
Classification: C07C

Abstract:
A process for the production of ethyl acetate which comprises:(a) converting a C2 feedstock comprising ethanol to ethyl acetate in an ethyl acetate production zone by a procedure selected from: (i) dehydrogenation, and (ii) reaction with acetaldehyde (b) recovering from the ethyl acetate production zone an intermediate reaction product mixture comprising hydrogen and liquefiable products comprising the majority of the ethyl acetate produced in step (a), ethanol, and by-products containing reactive carbonyl groups; (c) passing at least a portion of the liquefiable products of the intermediate reaction product mixture as recovered from the ethyl acetate production zone to a selective hydrogenation zone and contacting the liquefiable products of the intermediate reaction product mixture with a selective hydrogenation catalyst in the presence of hydrogen in the selective hydrogenation zone maintained under selective hydrogenation conditions effective to selectively hydrogenate said by-products containing reactive carbonyl groups to corresponding alcohols; (d) recovering from the selective hydrogenation zone a selectively hydrogenated reaction product mixture comprising ethyl acetate, ethanol, hydrogen and hydrogenated by-products comprising said corresponding alcohols; (e) distilling the selectively hydrogenated reaction product mixture in one or more distillation zones so as to produce a first composition comprising substantially pure ethyl acetate and a second composition comprising ethanol and water; (f) treating the second composition of step (e) to separate water therefrom and yield a third composition comprising ethanol with a reduced water content; and (g) recovering the third composition of step (f).