Claims
- 1. In a process for the continuous production of an aliphatic alcohol having from 3 to 5 carbon atoms by the catalytic hydration of an aliphatic olefin having 3 to 5 carbon atoms in the presence of water and a strongly acidic cation exchange catalyst in a fixed bed reactor at a temperature from about 120.degree.-l80.degree. C. and a pressure from about 40-200 bar, and in the absence of any added organic solvent with removal of the product stream, separation of the alcohol from the product stram and recycling of the process water, the improvement which comprises adding a cationic surfactant to the process water to form an aqueous solution which is stable under the process conditions and maintaining the concentration of the surfactant in the aqueous solution in the range from about 0.1 to 100 parts of surfactant per million parts of the aqueous solution.
- 2. A process according to claim 1 in which the concentration of the surfactant it maintained in a range from about 2 to about 40 parts of surfactant per million parts of said aqueous solution.
- 3. A process according to claim 1 in which the concentration of said surfactant is maintained in a range from about 4 to about 10 parts per million parts of said aqueous solution.
- 4. A process according to claim 1 in which said surfactant is a quaternary ammonium compound.
- 5. A process according to claim 1 in which surfactant is dimethyl distearyl ammonium chloride.
- 6. A process according to claim 1 in which said process is conducted by passing at least one reaction component from the bottom to the top of said fixed bed reactor, removing the gaseous phase at the head of the reactor and separating the alcohol from the gaseous phase by partial pressure release.
- 7. A process according to claim 1 in which said surfactant is a quaternary ammonium compound represented by the formula:
- RR.sub.1 R.sub.2 R.sub.3 NCl in which
- R, R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 represent hydrocarbyl and alkanoyl radicals having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms.
- 8. A process according to claim 7 in which R, R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 represent alkyl radicals and R.sub.3 represents an alkanoyl radical having from 12 to 18 carbon atoms.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
3512518 |
Apr 1985 |
DEX |
|
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 844,654, filed Mar. 27, 1986, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3994983 |
Webers et al. |
Nov 1976 |
|
4012456 |
Chaplits |
Mar 1977 |
|
4340769 |
Brandes et al. |
Jul 1982 |
|
4476333 |
Neier et al. |
Oct 1984 |
|
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Starks et al, "Phase Transfer Catalysis" (1978) Academic Press Inc., p. 5. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
844654 |
Mar 1986 |
|