A process for removing water from an oxidative esterification reactor includes (a) conducting an oxidative esterification reaction in a reactor; (b) removing a crude product stream from the reactor; (c) passing a first portion of the crude product stream directly to a product recovery zone; (d) introducing a second portion of the crude product stream to a distillation column to generate a column overheads stream and a column bottoms stream; (e) passing at least a portion of the columns bottoms stream to the product recovery zone; and (f) recycling a recycle stream comprising at least a portion of the overheads stream to the reactor; wherein the recycle stream contains less than 1 weight percent (wt %) water based on the total weight of the recycle stream, wherein the weight ratio of the first portion to the second portion is at least 1:10, and wherein the amount of the recycle stream recycled to the reactor is such that the reactor contains less than or equal to 2.5 wt % water, based on the weight of the reactor contents.

Provided are a purification device and method. The purification device and method make most use of an internal heat source in the distillation column in the process of distilling the raw material, and reduce use of an external heat source. Thereby, the purification device and method can improve energy efficiency of all the processes.

The present invention relates to a process for treating, by reactive distillation, an olefinic feedstock comprising linear olefins containing n carbon atoms, and branched olefins, the branched olefins comprising tertiary branched olefins, for example a mixture of n-butenes and of tertiary branched olefins comprising isobutene, so as to produce an olefinic effluent with a mass content of tertiary branched olefin of less than or equal to 3% by weight and a heavy hydrocarbon effluent, said process comprising the feeding of a reactive distillation section with said olefinic feedstock and with an alcohol feedstock comprising a primary alcohol, said reactive distillation section comprising a column composed at least of an upper reflux zone into which is introduced said alcohol feedstock, comprising, for example, ethanol, an intermediate reaction zone comprising at least 6 reactive doublets, and a lower fractionation zone at the level of which said section is fed with said olefinic feedstock, said reactive distillation section being operated at a relative pressure of between 0.3 and 0.5 MPa, a column head temperature of between 40° C. and 60° C., with a reflux ratio of between 1.8 and 2.2.

The present disclosure describes a fractional distillation tower that uses color sensing technology that provides nearly real time cutpoint analysis of high value products. With this information, the cutpoints may be aggressively shifted to a financially advantageous product slate and stay aggressive throughout each day rather than wait for a once or twice daily report of what products have been made and their analyses with respect to specifications.

A method of column control includes: passing a feed stream and a make-up stream through a column; withdrawing an overhead fraction from the column; purging at least a portion of the overhead fraction; cooling at least a portion of the overhead fraction in a heat exchanger and passing it through a reflux drum; withdrawing a purge stream and a distillate stream from the reflux drum, wherein the distillate stream has a constant flow rate; recycling at least a portion of the distillate stream back to the column; and passing at least a portion of the distillate stream to a downstream process.

Method and apparatus for processing pyrolysis oil from vehicular tires and effecting a steam distillation for separation of the pyrolysis oil to create a lighter fraction which may be subjected to fractional distillation and a heavy fraction which is usable as a fuel oil.

Method and apparatus are provided for efficient metal distillation, and for related primary product process. Vertically stacked and gravity-driven evaporators and condensers are employed to distill metals, such metals having different volatilities. A multiple-effect thermal system of magnesium and other volatile metals is used to efficiently distill and separate metals from multiple metal alloys.

Provided is a method capable of manufacturing 1,3-butylene glycol having a high potassium permanganate test value. A method for manufacturing 1,3-butylene glycol, which is a method for obtaining purified 1,3-butylene glycol from a crude reaction liquid containing 1,3-butylene glycol, the method including: a dehydration step of removing water by distillation; a high boiling substance removal step of removing a high boiling point component by distillation; and a product distillation step of obtaining purified 1,3-butylene glycol, wherein in the product distillation step, a product column is used in which a liquid feed having a 1,3-butylene glycol concentration of 97% or higher, an acetaldehyde content of 500 ppm or lower, and a crotonaldehyde content of 200 ppm or lower is distilled under a condition of a reflux ratio of higher than 0.1, and a liquid concentrated with acetaldehyde and crotonaldehyde is distilled off from above a feed plate, and 1,3-butylene glycol is extracted from below the feed plate.

A high-purity 1,3-butylene glycol product is provided, which is colorless and odorless (or almost colorless and odorless), unlikely to cause coloration and odor over time, and, besides, unlikely to cause an acid concentration increase over time also in a state containing water. A 1,3-butylene glycol product in which at least one of a content of methyl vinyl ketone, a content of acetone, a content of butylaldehyde, a content of acetaldol, a content of a compound represented by Formula (1) below, a content of a compound represented by Formula (2) below, a content of a compound represented by Formula (3) below, and a total content of a compound represented by Formula (4) below and a compound represented by Formula (5) below, is less than 8 ppm.

Provided is a method capable of manufacturing high-purity 1,3-butylene glycol having a high potassium permanganate test value, a very low content of low boiling point components, and a high initial boiling point with a high recovery rate.

The method for manufacturing 1,3-butylene is a method for obtaining purified 1,3-butylene glycol from a crude reaction liquid containing 1,3-butylene glycol. In a dehydration column used in a dehydration step, a liquid feed containing 1,3 butylene glycol and water with an acetaldehyde content of 1000 ppm or lower and a crotonaldehyde content of 400 ppm or lower is distilled under a condition of a reflux ratio of higher than 0.3, and a liquid concentrated with a low boiling point component containing water is distilled off from above a feed tray. In a product column used in a product distillation step, a liquid feed containing 1,3-butylene glycol with an acetaldehyde content of 500 ppm or lower and a crotonaldehyde content of 200 ppm or lower is distilled under a condition of a reflux ratio of higher than 0.1.