Patent ID: 8748675

Claim:
A process for producing ethanol, comprising the steps of: hydrogenating acetic acid from an acetic acid feed stream in a reactor to form a crude ethanol product comprising ethanol, ethyl acetate, water, and acetic acid; feeding an extractive agent comprising water and at least a portion of the crude ethanol product to a first column; separating at least a portion of the crude ethanol product in a first column into a first distillate comprising from 35 to 80 wt. % ethyl acetate, from 0.1 to 15 wt. % ethanol, from 2 to 25 wt. % water, from 0.1 to 30 wt. % acetaldehyde, and from 0.1 to 30 wt. % acetal, and a first residue comprising ethanol, acetic acid, and water, wherein the first residue comprises less than 1 wt. % ethyl acetate; separating the first residue in a second column into a second distillate comprising ethanol, and a second residue comprising water and acetic acid; and recovering the extractive agent from the second residue.