Patent ID: 7151194

Claim:
A method for the production of acrylic acid, comprising the steps of a-1) obtaining an acrylic acid-containing gas by catalytic vapor phase oxidation of a raw material of acrylic acid, a-2) introducing said acrylic acid-containing gas into an absorption column, so as to allow said gas to contact an absorbing aqueous solution therein, to obtain an aqueous acrylic acid solution having not less than 85% by mass of acrylic acid content, a-3) cooling at least a part of a gas discharged from the top of the absorption column, and recycling the cooled gas to a catalytic oxidation reactor, wherein the cooling is in the range of 1–50° C. lower than when discharged from the top of the absorption column, a-4) recycling to step (a-2) at least a part of a condensed liquid obtained by cooling said discharged gas, b) distilling said acrylic acid-containing solution in the absence of an azeotropic solvent and obtaining crude acrylic acid as a column bottom stream and/or a column side stream, and c) supplying said crude acrylic acid to a crystallization step and melt crystallizing said crude acrylic acid and obtaining purified acrylic acid.