Patent ID: 7863483

Claim:
A terephthalic acid production process comprising: isolating solids comprising terephthalic acid from a product isolation feed stream in a product isolation zone to thereby produce an isolated product comprising isolated solids, wherein said isolated solids comprise purified terephthalic acid particles and oxidation byproducts, wherein said oxidation byproducts include at least one compound selected from the group consisting of isophthalic acid (IPA), phthalic acid (PA), trimellitic acid, 2,5,4â€²-tricarboxybiphenyl, 2,5,4â€²-tricarboxybenzophenone, p-TAc, 4-CBA, naphthalene dicarboxylic acid, monocarboxyfluorenones, and dicarboxyfluorenones are formed in said production process, wherein the rate at which said oxidation byproducts are combined with said isolated product to form a combined stream wherein said combined stream has oxidation byproducts in the range of about 1,000 to about 100,000 ppmw; wherein said purified terephthalic acid particles are purified without the use of a hydrogenation step.