Patent ID: 7541423

Claim:
A method of producing an oligomer and/or polymer having a terephthalate moiety, said method comprising the steps of: (a) generating a gaseous fluid from a liquid fluid to thereby provide a two-phase fluid stream, wherein said generating is at least partly accomplished by heating said liquid fluid and/or by subjecting at least a portion of said liquid fluid to a chemical reaction, wherein said heating vaporizes at least a portion of said liquid fluid to thereby form a vaporized fluid, wherein said chemical reaction forms a gaseous by-product, wherein said gaseous fluid comprises at least a portion of said vaporized fluid and/or at least a portion of said gaseous by-product; (b) flowing at least a portion of the two-phase fluid stream through a pipe reactor, wherein the pipe reactor comprises at least one horizontally-elongated pipe segment, wherein said two-phase fluid stream flows in a stratified flow regime through at least a portion of said horizontally-elongated pipe segment, wherein said stratified flow regime includes having at least a portion of said gaseous fluid flow above at least a portion of said liquid fluid; and (c) separating at least a portion of the gaseous fluid from the liquid fluid to thereby provide a separated gaseous fluid and a separated liquid proximate a location where the liquid and gaseous fluids are in stratified flow, wherein said separating includes routing the separated gaseous fluid to a different location than the separated liquid fluid.