Patent ID: 6482945
Filing Date: 2002-11-19
Classification: C07D

Abstract:
A process for producing &egr;-caprolactam comprising the steps of:evaporating a mixture of cyclohexanone oxime and a solvent by injecting the mixture into a fluidized bed in which inert particles are fluidized by an inert gas, the particles having heat enough to evaporate the mixture; rearranging cyclohexanone oxime in the evaporated mixture into &egr;-caprolactam by a gas phase Beckmann rearrangement reaction using a crystalline zeolite catalyst; and regenerating the inert particles by treating the inert particles with an inert gas and/or oxygen-containing gas at about 300Â° C. to about 600Â° C., wherein said solvent is a saturated alcohol having 1 to 6 carbon atoms.