| abstract |
A process for the production of fatty alcohols is proposed, in which fatty acids or fatty acid esters are heated together with excess hydrogen at pressures from 50 to 350 bar to temperatures of 200 to 250 ° C., the fat / hydrogen mixture is passed over a fixed catalyst bed, the resulting mixture cooled from fatty alcohol, methanol and unreacted hydrogen, separated into a liquid and a gas phase in a separator, the liquid phase containing the fatty alcohol and methanol relaxed, discharged and worked up separately, while the unreacted hydrogen together with fresh hydrogen over a Gas recirculation pump is compressed again to the reaction pressure and returned to the hydrogenation, which is characterized in that the shaft reactor is gassed with at least a partial stream of the unheated hydrogen and thereby cooled. This measure significantly reduces the amount of cycle gas and increases the throughput accordingly. |