Patent ID: 8062482

Claim:
A method for removing acetaldehyde from a mixture of methyl acetate, methanol and acetaldehyde comprising: (a) feeding the mixture of methyl acetate, methanol and acetaldehyde to a distillation column; (b) distilling the feed mixture of methyl acetate methanol and acetaldehyde at a pressure of 10 psig or more to generate an overhead vapor stream enriched in acetaldehyde as compared with the feed mixture and a residue stream depleted in acetaldehyde as compared with the feed mixture; and (c) withdrawing the residue stream depleted in acetaldehyde from the distillation column, wherein at least a portion of the overhead stream is refluxed to the distillation column wherein the distillation column is operated at a reflux to feed (R/F) ratio of greater than 2.