Process for purifying phenol

Abstract: A stream of raw phenol, coming from the acidic cracking of cumene hydroperoxide, is purified by means of a process of extractive distillation carried out in the presence of acetophenone.

Description: The present invention relates to an improved process for purifying phenol obtained by means of the acidic cracking of cumene hydroperoxide, a process according to which a phenol containing stream, after the preliminary separation of heavy components, is submitted to an extractive distillation in the presence of acetophenone. The processes for producing phenol by means of the oxidation of cumene to cumene hydroperoxide and subsequent cracking of thus obtained hydroperoxide, in the presence of acidic catalysts, is known; the product from, the acidic cracking contains phenol and acetone, as main products, besides minor amounts of different byproducts. The fractional distillation of the cracked product makes it possibile phenol to be produced with a satisfactory purity for several uses. However, in the production of such compounds as bis-phenol, polycarbonate or nylon, a phenol with a very high purity is always required, which cannot be easily obtained by means of the treatments known from the prior art. In general, the purity of phenol is checked by means of a colour-development test after nitration, clorination or sulfonation, in that these tests are generally very sensitive to the presence of chromogenic impurities. A very pure phenol is a phenol which in theses tests does not practically generate a colour. Therefore the normal purification of phenol is carried out by means of successive steps of fractional distillation, whilst the removal of the colour-generating impurities is usually obtained by means of special treatments. For that purpose, treatments with acidic condensing agents have been proposed (German Patent Application 2,211,616), acidic silica-aluminates used at high temperatures, generally higher than 200°C (US 3,454,653), alkali and ferric chloride (British Patent 920,905), polyamines (US 3,965,187,) and hydrogen peroxide in an alkalin medium (US 2,971,893). All these treatments show one or more disadvantages, such as high cost, problems of regeneration of the agent used in the purification treatment, and problems deriving from the introduction of foreing chemical substances in the substance which one wishes to purify. Furthermore, these treatments difficultly make it possible a complete or substantially complete removal of phenol impurities to be attained. Also phenol purification processes have been proposed, which are based on distillation treatments, such as, e.g., disclosed in British Patent 1,021,759, and in European Patent Application publication No. 4,168. EP-A-0 028 522 discloses a phenol purification process in which an extractive distillation in the presence of a polyalkylene glycol or ether thereof is effected Unfortunately, such distillation processes are difficult to be carried out, in that they require a strict control of the operating conditions: in any case, although they make it possible particular carbonylic compounds such as hydroxy-acetone and mesityl oxide to be removed up to a satisfactory extent, such processes are not suitable for separating all colour-generating substancesup to a complete, or substantially complete, extent. The present Applicant has found now, what is the subject-matter of the present invention, that phenol free, or substantially free, from all of the above listed impurities, can be produced by means of a simple and advantageous process which essentially consists in sending a stream of raw phenol, previously deprived of its heavy components, to an extractive distillation in the presence of a head of acetophenone which, as known, is present, as a byproduct normally removed together with the heavy components, in the phenol production process carried out by starting from cumene hydroperoxide. Although this is a procedure sometimes followed in the art, the recovery of acetophenone from these heavy components is not particularly favourable from an economic viewpoint, in that it is difficult to obtain acetophenone with the desired purity. Such a process, besides making it possible phenol to be produced at a very high purity level, therefore useful for the above mentioned uses, shows the considerable advantages, as compared to the method known from the prior art, that it does not require the addition of foreign bodies, and reduces to a minimum the impurities of cresol type, difficult to be removed according to the treatments used to date. Furthermore, by using acetophenone as the extracting agent, said process makes it possible a portion of said acetophenone present as byproduct to be used, with the costs connected with the use of extracting solvents foreign to the process being thus avoided. Referring to the scheme of the Figure, a stream from phenol facility, obtained according to the well-known route of acidic cracking of cumene hydroperoxide, from which, through several distillation steps, acetone, cumene, alpha-methyl-styrene have been separated, and therefore having a composition broadly comprised within the following limits: * Phenol 79 - 91,85 % * Acetone 0,1 % * Cumene 0,1 - 0,5 % * Alpha-methyl-styrene 0,1 - 3,0 % * Mesityl oxide 0,01 - 0,1 % * Acetophenone 1,6 - 3 % * Dimethyl-phenyl-carbinol 0,1 - 1,5 % * Hydroxyacetone 0,04 - 0,3 % * Water 0,1 - 0,5 % * Pitches 6 - 12 % is fed (through line 1) to a distillation tower (C₁), operated in such a way as to separate an overhead stream (2) constituted by: * Phenol 90,6 - 99,24 % * Acetone 0,2 - 0,5 % * Cumene 0,1 - 0,6 % * Alpha-methyl-styrene 0,1 - 3,0 % * Mesityl oxide 0,01 - 0,1 % * Acetophenone 0,1 - 3,0 % * Dimethyl-phenyl-carbinol 0,1 - 1,0 % * Hydroxyacetone 0,04 - 0,3 % * Water 0,1 - 0,8 % * other impurities among which o-, m-, p-cresol, paraffinic and ketonic impurities, benzofurans, and so forth) 0,01 - 0,1 % On the contrary, from the bottom (3) on the above said tower the pitches are separated, which are mainly consituted by cumyl-phenols, dimers of alpha-methyl-styrene and heavier pitches, plus the residual amount of acetophenone and dimethyl-phenyl-carbinol, not separated in the overhead stream. The overhead product, having the above said composition, is fed to an intermediate point (4) of a distillation tower (C₂) operating under extractive conditions, to the head of which (5) the extracting agent is fed, which is essentially constituted by acetophenone and phenols in mutual ratios comprised within the range of the azeotropic mixtures of phenol and acetophenone under the operating conditions of the subsequent tower (C₃) plus, possibly, small excess amounts of phenol and other impurities. The amount of this stream should be such as to keep, in tower C₂, the ratio of total acetophenone to total phenol at a value constantly comprised within the range of from 1 to 4. The above said tower (C₂) can be both operated at atmospheric pressure and at lower-than-atmospheric or higher-than-atmospheric pressures; pressure values close to atmopsheric pressure are preferred. By operating under these conditions, from the head of the above said tower (6) an overhead stream is separated in an amount comprised within the range of from 0.5 to 10% of the feedstock stream, which is essentially constituted by phenol plus all the light impurities and some heavy impurities and, in particular, acetone, cumene, alpha-methyl-styrene, mesityl oxide, hydroxy-acetone, water, and portions of paraffinic, ketonic and benzofuran impurities. The bottom stream from the above said tower (7), constituted by phenol purified from impurities and acetophenone, with residual amounts of dimethyl-phenyl-carbinol plus other heavy impurities, is fed to the subsequent tower (C₃), from whose head (8) pure phenol is separated as the overhead stream, and whose bottom stream (9) is constituted by the azeotropic phenol/acetophenone mixture plus, possibly, residual amounts of phenol not separated in the overhead stream, and other heavy impurities, such as ortho-, meta-, para-cresol which, as phenol, generate, together with acetophenone, maximum-boiling-temperature azeotropic mixtures. The operating pressure in tower C₃ can be the atmospheric pressure, a lower-than-atmospheric pressure, or a higher-than-atmospheric pressures. The bottom product is totally or partially recycled to the tower C₂, in which it performs the task of extracting agent (5). In order to keep the ratio of acetophenone to phenol comprised within the preset limits, respectively comprised within the range of from 1 to 4, and in order to prevent the heavy impurities from accumulating, a portion of this stream is recycled to tower C₁ (10). Example No. 1 2000 grams/hour of a stream from phenol facility, obtained by means of the acidic cracking of cumene hydroperoxide, from which acetone, cumene and alpha-methyl-styrene have been previously distilled off, and having the composition as reported in the following table ("C₁ Feed" column), is fed to a distillation tower operating under vacuum. Inside this tower, an overhead stream (1840 g/h) of raw phenol is separated, which has the composition shown in the following table in "C₁ Overhead" column, and therefore is constituted by phenol plus all of the light impurities and a portion of heavy impurities, among which acetophenone, and, as the bottom stream, 160 g/h of heavy products, is separated. The C₁ overhead product is fed to a subsequent tower operating under extractive conditions, together with the extracting agent coming from the bottom of C₃ tower, with a flow rate of 4700 g/h, and essentially constituted by acetophenone (70%), with the balance to 100% being phenol and heavy impurities. In tower C₂, 162 g/h is separated as an overhead stream having the composition shown in the following table as "C₂ Overhead", and essentially constituted by phenol and practically all of the light impurities. The bottom product, consisting of phenol and acetophenone, and heavy impurities, is rectified in a subsequent tower from which 1665 g/h of phenol containing extremely small amounts of impurities (total impurities < 100 ppm) is separated as the overhead stream. Said phenol has such a purity level as to pass the most strict tests of sulfonation, nitration and clorination.

Claims: Process for purifying phenol coming from the acidic cracking of cumene hydroperoxide, which purification process consists in submitting a stream of phenol, previously deprived of its heavy fractions, to an extractive distillation in the presence of acetophenone. Process for purifying phenol according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the extractive distillation is carried out at a ratio of total acetophenone to total phenol comprised within the range of from 1 to 4. Process for purifying phenol according to claim 1, characterized in that the stream of phenol contains phenol in amounts comprised within the range of from 90 to 99.5%.

Inventors: BRUZZI VITTORIO, LORENZONI LORENO, MESSINA GIUSEPPE, SIMULA SALVATORE, BRUZZI, VITTORIO, LORENZONI, LORENO, MESSINA, GIUSEPPE, SIMULA, SALVATORE
Applicants: ENICHEM SPA, ENICHEM S.P.A.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: C07C37
IPC codes: C07C37, C07C39