Patent ID: 8378154

Claim:
A process for the preparation of an alkylene glycol from an alkene comprising steps of: (a) reacting the alkene with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst in a reactor to produce a gas composition comprising alkylene oxide, alkene, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour; (b) supplying the gas composition from (a) to an alkylene oxide absorber, supplying lean absorbent to the alkylene oxide absorber, contacting the gas composition with lean absorbent in the absorber in the presence of one or more catalysts that promote hydrolysis and withdrawing fat absorbent from the absorber; (c) optionally supplying the fat absorbent to one or more reactor vessels; wherein conversion of alkylene oxide to alkylene glycol occurs in step (b) and optionally in step (c), such that the fat absorbent resulting from step (b) or step (c) comprises alkylene glycol; and further comprising steps of: (d) contacting the fat absorbent from step (b) or step (c) with a lean solvent, thereby extracting alkylene glycol from the fat absorbent and producing fat solvent; and (e) recovering alkylene glycol from the fat solvent, thereby producing lean solvent, and recycling the lean solvent to step (d).