Patent ID: 8309773

Claim:
A process for recovering ethanol, comprising: hydrogenating an acetic acid feed stream in the presence of a catalyst to form a crude ethanol product; separating at least a portion of the crude ethanol product in a first column into a first distillate comprising ethanol, water and ethyl acetate, and a first residue comprising from 60 to 100 wt. % acetic acid, based on the total weight of the first residue; separating at least a portion of the first distillate in a second column into a second distillate comprising ethyl acetate and a second residue comprising ethanol and water; separating at least a portion of the second residue in a third column into a third distillate comprising ethanol and a third residue comprising water; and directly or indirectly returning at least a portion of the first residue to a reactor for the hydrogenation of acetic acid.