Acetic Acid via Acetaldehyde Oxidation

Abstract

Liquid phase oxidation of acetaldehyde occurs at 55-650C and 4.8-5 bar with manganous acetate as catalyst. If oxygen is used in place of air, the reaction temperature is raised to lO-80oC. The unreacted acetaldehyde and solvent are condensed and recycled back to the reactor. The liquid product stream is sent to a series of four distillation columns where 99.8 percent acetic acid is recovered.