Patent ID: 6500982
Filing Date: 2002-12-31
Classification: C07C

Abstract:
A process for preparing (meth)acrylic acid, comprising the steps of:(A) feeding an aqueous (meth)acrylic acid stream comprising (meth)acrylic acid to a distillation column; (B) distilling the aqueous (meth)acrylic acid stream at a predetermined vapor rate, in the presence of at least one distillation solvent substantially insoluble in water, to form a crude (meth)acrylic acid stream; and (C) maintaining the predetermined vapor rate in response to aqueous (meth)acrylic acid fluctuation by (i) monitoring a distillation solvent to water ratio during distillation, and (ii) adjusting at least one of the amount of water and the amount of distillation solvent fed to the distillation column to maintain the predetermined vapor rate.