Patent ID: 8729318

Claim:
A process for producing ethanol by hydrogenolysis of methyl acetate comprising: reacting carbon monoxide and methanol in a reaction medium to form a reaction solution that comprises acetic acid and from 0.5 to 25 wt. % methyl acetate, wherein the reaction medium comprises water, acetic acid, methyl acetate, a first catalyst, and an alkyl halide; flashing the reaction solution to yield a carbonylation product and a liquid catalyst recycle stream; separating the carbonylation product into a first methyl acetate stream and an acetic acid stream; esterifying the acetic acid stream to form a second methyl acetate stream; feeding the first methyl acetate stream and the second methyl acetate stream to a distillation column to remove alkyl halides and obtain a third methyl acetate stream; reacting the third methyl acetate stream and hydrogen in the presence of a second catalyst to form an alcohol product that comprises ethanol and methanol; and recovering ethanol from the alcohol product.