Patent ID: 8173076

Claim:
An apparatus for producing acetic acid, said apparatus comprising; a reactor for carbonylating methanol or its reactive derivatives in the presence of water, a catalyst selected from rhodium catalysts, iridium catalysts and mixtures thereof, and a methyl iodide promoter to form an acetic acid reaction mixture in a reactor; a flasher apparatus coupled to the reactor and adapted to receive a stream of the reaction mixture and separate it into (i) a liquid recycle stream, and (ii) a crude product stream containing acetic acid; a light ends column coupled to the flasher, which is configured to separate low boiling components from the first product stream, and generate a purified product stream, the light ends column having a distillation zone with an upper portion, a lower portion and a central portion, the central portion of the distillation zone having a product sidedraw; a first condenser for condensing overhead vapor from the upper portion of the distillation zone of the light ends column and communicating therewith, the first condenser being further adapted for returning at least a portion of the condensed overhead vapor as liquid reflux to the distillation zone of the light ends column; a second condenser adapted for condensing vapor from the central portion of the distillation zone of the light ends column and communicating therewith; and a dehydrating column coupled to the light ends column for receiving and further purifying the purified product stream.