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.
