Patent ID: 8859810

Claim:
A process for recovering permanganate reducing compounds (PRC's) from a crude acetic acid composition, the process comprising the steps of: separating the crude acetic acid composition in a light ends column into an overhead stream comprising methyl iodide, water, methyl acetate, and at least one PRC, and an acetic acid product stream; separating a portion of the overhead stream using a first distillation column to obtain a stream enriched in the at least one PRC, wherein the enriched stream further comprises at least some of the methyl iodide from the overhead stream; and separating a portion of the enriched stream in a second distillation column to obtain a distillate comprising methyl iodide and a residue comprising the at least one PRC, wherein the ratio of methyl iodide to PRC's in the residue is less than the ratio of methyl iodide to PRC's in the enriched stream.