A process by which the raw material, a gas comprising mainly hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, is introduced into a first reactor together with a catalyst, in which one or more reactions take place that produce methanol or dimethyl ether or both, which are then introduced into a second reactor adding oxygen and a catalyst and producing formaldehyde and a minority of dimethyl ether, and where there may be an excess of water, such water being extracted from the process and the remaining products being introduced into the third reactor with, optionally, an additive, and such raw material is exposed to catalysts and under an atmosphere at medium temperature and pressure, in order to produce three or four groups of chemical reactions that, after extracting most of the water that is generated as a residue during the process, produces as a result a liquid multifunctional product that can be used as a solvent, a foaming agent or an oxygenated fuel; said product, normally a fluid, comprises polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers with molecular formula CH3O(CH2O)nCH3 wherein n has a value between 1 and 7.

The present invention relates to a process for oligomerization of C2- to C8-olefins in at least two reaction stages, wherein in the last distillation column the reaction mixture is fractionated such that only very small amounts of the oligomers formed remain in the distillate.

The present disclosure generally relates to processes for preparation of n-butanol, n-octanol and n-decanol from a reaction mixture comprising ethanoi and n-hexanol by Guerbet condensation. In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to improvements in n-octanol and n-decanol yield and selectivity by the selection of process reaction conditions such as, but not limited to, mole ratio of n-hexanol to ethanol. The present disclosure further generally relates to integrated processes for preparation of n-butanol in a n-butanol reactor from a reaction mixture comprising ethanol and hydrogen to produce a n-butanol product stream by Geurbet condensation comprising n-butanol and n-hexanol and for preparation of n-octanol in a n-octanol reactor from a reaction mixture comprising ethanol, n-hexanol and hydrogen to produce a n-octanol product stream by Geurbet condensation comprising n-butanol, n-hexanol and n-octanol. A predominant proportion of the n-hexanol contained in the n-butanol and n-octanol product streams is isolated and recycled to the n-octanol reaction mixture. In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to improvements in n-octanol and n-butanol yield and selectivity by the selection of process reaction conditions such as, but not limited to, mole ratio of n-hexanol to ethanol and recovery and recycle of n-hexanol.

A method of decomposing a phenol by-product produced in a phenol preparation process, in which acetophenone separated from a distillation column is mixed with tar separated and collected in a decomposition reactor, thereby significantly decreasing viscosity of tar. The decomposition method according to the present invention allows tar to have sufficient viscosity for flowability even at room temperature, whereby transfer and storage of tar may be more smoothly done without using any heating device for transfer of tar.

A process for production of dialkyl succinate from bio-succinic acid feedstock where solid bio-succinic acid is fed to a reactor to react with alkanol by autocatalytic esterification. Products from the reactor including unreacted succinic acid, mono alkyl ester, dialkyl ester, alkanol, water and impurities are sent to a reaction distillation column for esterification of succinic acid and further esterification of mono alkyl ester with upflowing alkanol. The bottoms products from the reaction distillation column including residual succinic acid, mono alkyl ester, dialkyl ester, impurities and alkanol are sent to a bottoms stream separation zone where di-alkyl ester is separated from alkanol, succinic acid, mono alkyl ester and impurities. The tops products from the reaction distillation column including alkanol, water and organic components are sent to a top stream distillation zone where alkanol is separated from water and organic components. The organic components are recycled to the reaction zone column.

A process for supplying deaerated water to a chemical plant that includes a distillation column for separating a reaction effluent comprising water and a product. The process includes inventorying the distillation column with aerated water (water having an oxygen content of greater than 50 ppbw, such as greater than 1 ppmw). The aerated water in the distillation column may then be distilled to produce an oxygen-containing overheads and a bottoms fraction comprising deaerated water. The deaerated water in the bottoms fraction ma be transported to an upstream or a downstream unit operation, and utilizing the deaerated water in the upstream or downstream unit operation. The reaction effluent is fed to the distillation column, transitioning the distillation column from separating oxygen from water to operations for separating the product from the water.

A process for converting tertiary halogenated hydrocarbons in a tertiary halogenated hydrocarbon-containing stream to a corresponding unhalogenated or less-halogenated unsaturated hydrocarbon product with the release of hydrogen halide involves contacting the tertiary halogenated hydrocarbon with a sorbent-type dehydrohalogenation catalyst in a reaction zone and optionally passing a stripping gas through the reaction zone to remove vapor phase reaction products from the reaction zone. A process for removing a tertiary chlorinated hydrocarbon impurity from 1,3-dichloro-1-propene involves contacting a mixture containing the 1,3-dichloro-1-propene and the tertiary chlorinated hydrocarbon impurity with a dehydrochlorination catalyst effective to catalyze a conversion of the tertiary chlorinated hydrocarbon impurity to a corresponding unchlorinated or less-chlorinated unsaturated hydrocarbon and hydrogen chloride and distilling the 1,3-dichloro-1-propene to produce a purified cis-1,3-dichloro-1-propene fraction and a purified trans-1,3-dichloro-1-propene fraction.

A method for forming a blend of ethers from a blend of alcohols includes a step of reacting a hydrocarbon-containing gas with an oxygen-containing gas to form first product blend. The first product blend includes a blend of partially oxygenated compounds. The blend of partially oxygenated compounds is provided to a reactive distillation station where it is converted a second product blend. The second product blend typically includes a mixture of ethers. An apparatus implementing the method is also provided.

Devices, systems, and methods for forming furan based surfactants by reactive distillation are disclosed herein. Various embodiments can provide a consolidated reaction process that uses reactive distillation to synthesize oleo-furan surfactant molecules and intermediates by combining reaction and separation steps into a single reaction unit or a number of connected reaction units. The single reaction unit or a number of connected reaction units can include a catalyst bed and act to separate reaction side products at opposing ends of the unit or units.

Disclosed is a process for making para-xylene from toluene and/or benzene comprising (i) converting toluene and/or benzene to a first product mixture comprising mixed xylenes, (ii) obtaining a xylene mixture from the first product mixture, (iii) separating para-xylene from the xylene mixture, and (iv) transalkylating meta-xylene and/or ortho-xylene with toluene and/or benzene.