Patent ID: 8053586

Claim:
A system for recovery of alkylene oxide, comprising: a stripping section located in an alkylene oxide recovery column to convert a portion of a feed stream to a gas phase portion, where the gas phase portion includes alkylene oxide; a condenser to partially condense the gas phase portion to produce an alkylene oxide rich vapor stream and a liquid reflux stream; and a reabsorption section located in the alkylene oxide recovery column above the stripping section including: a water stream to reabsorb the alkylene oxide in the alkylene oxide rich vapor stream to produce an aqueous solution; a first stripping gas to strip carbon dioxide and oxygen from the aqueous solution by converting a portion of the aqueous solution to a gaseous portion, producing an alkylene oxide stream and a gaseous portion of the aqueous solution including carbon dioxide and oxygen; and a side take-off located at a bottom portion of the reabsorption section for removal of the alkylene oxide stream, where the alkylene oxide recovery column includes a top take-off located at a top of the column for removal of a light impurity fraction produced from stripping carbon dioxide and oxygen from the aqueous solution.