Process for the preparation of ethylene glycol from sugars

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9926247-B2
Application number	US-201515321301-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2015
Priority date	Jun 30, 2014
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A process for the preparation of ethylene glycol comprising the steps of hydrogenating a composition comprising C 2 -oxygenate compounds in the gas phase in the presence of a catalyst.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process for gas-phase preparation of ethylene glycol, comprising contacting a C 1-3 -oxygenate gaseous feed composition with a catalyst and hydrogen in the gas phase, and producing a product composition comprising C 1 -C 3 glycols, optionally, further hydrogenating the product composition.

2. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the feed composition comprises glycolaldehyde.

3. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the feed composition further comprises at least one oxygenate compound selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde, glycolaldehyde, glyoxal, pyruvaldehyde and acetol.

4. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises a metal component selected from one or more of the group consisting of Cu, Ni, Co, Mo, Fe, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, and Ir.

5. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises a support selected from one or more of the group consisting of carbon, silica, alumina, silicon carbide, titania, and zirconia.

6. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the feed composition comprises C 2 -oxygenate compounds which are hydrogenated at a temperature from 150° C. to 350° C.

7. A process according to claim 6 , wherein the feed composition comprises C 2 -oxygenate compounds which are hydrogenated at a pressure from 0.1 bar to 30 bar.

8. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the product composition is subsequently hydrogenated in the presence of a catalyst, hydrogen and a solvent to produce a product stream.

9. A process according to claim 8 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of water, alcohol and water and alcohol.

10. A process according to claim 9 , wherein the alcohol is selected from one or more of the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol and propylene glycol.

11. A process according to claim 8 , wherein the catalyst for the subsequent hydrogenation comprises a metal component selected from the group consisting of ruthenium, ruthenium alloy, palladium, platinum and nickel.

12. A process according to claim 8 , wherein the product stream is purified.

13. A process according to claim 1 , wherein propylene is produced at a yield of 50% or greater.

14. A process according to claim 1 , wherein 1,2-butanediol and ethylene glycol are produced in a wt/wt ratio equal to or less than 0.01:1.

15. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the C 1-3 -oxygenate feed composition further comprise one or more oxygenate compounds selected from the group consisting of glycolaldehyde and glyoxal.

16. A process for the preparation of ethylene glycol in the gas phase, comprising:
pyrolysing a sugar to obtain a pyrolysis product comprising C 1-3 -oxygenate compounds; followed by hydrogenating the pyrolysis product comprising the C 1-3 -oxygenate compounds according claim 1 .

17. The process according to claim 16 , wherein the sugar is one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of glucose, sucrose, fructose, xylose, mannose, arabinose and galactose.

18. The process according to claim 16 , wherein the pyrolysis product comprising C 1-3 -oxygenate compounds comprises at least formaldehyde and one or more oxygenate compounds selected from the group consisting of glycolaldehyde, glyoxal, pyruvaldehyde and acetol.

19. The process according to claim 16 , wherein the pyrolysis product comprising C 1-3 -oxygenate compounds comprises at least 10 wt % C 2 -oxygenate compound.

20. The process according to claim 16 , wherein the pyrolysis product is hydrogenated without prior condensation of the pyrolysis product.

21. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the feed composition comprises formaldehyde.

22. The process according to claim 2 , wherein the feed composition further comprises formaldehyde.

Assignees

• Haldor Topsoe As
• Haldor Topsoe As

Inventors

• Mårup Osmundsen Christian
• Taarning Esben
• Holm Martin Spangsberg

Classifications

• Y02P20/52

  using catalysts, e.g. selective catalysts · CPC title

• C07C29/145

  with hydrogen or hydrogen-containing gases · CPC title

• C07C29/141 Primary

  with hydrogen or hydrogen-containing gases · CPC title

• C07C45/60

  in six-membered rings · CPC title

• C07C27/00

  Processes involving the simultaneous production of more than one class of oxygen-containing compounds · CPC title