Patent ID: 7381836

Claim:
A process for producing a polycarboxylic acid, said process comprising: (a) introducing an oxidant stream comprising molecular oxygen into a reaction zone of a bubble column reactor; (b) introducing a feed stream comprising an oxidizable compound into said reaction zone, wherein the distribution of said oxidizable compound introduced into said reaction zone is measured by theoretically partitioning said reaction zone into four vertical quadrants of equal volume with a pair of intersecting vertical planes, wherein said feed stream is introduced into said reaction zone in a manner such that when said reaction zone is theoretically partitioned into 4 vertical quadrants of equal volume by a pair of intersecting vertical planes, not more than 80 weight percent of said oxidizable compound enters said reaction zone in a single one of said vertical quadrants; and (c) oxidizing at least a portion of said oxidizable compound in a liquid phase of a multi-phase reaction medium contained in said reaction zone.