| abstract |
A process for continuous industrial production of unsaturated aliphatic aldehydes having a boiling range from 95 to 136° C. by oxidative dehydrogenation of the corresponding alcohols with an oxygen-comprising gas over a supported catalyst consisting of copper, silver and/or gold on an inert support in a tube bundle reactor, rapid cooling of the reaction gases and removal of the aldehydes from the resulting condensate with recycling of the unconverted alcohols comprises n a) vaporizing the alcohol, n b) admixing the alcohol vapor with an oxygen-comprising gas, n c) initially passing the resulting oxygen-comprising alcohol vapor at above the dew point of the alcohol but below the commencement temperature of the reaction through a layer of one of the abovementioned supported catalysts which is at least 0.5 cm in thickness and only then n d) reacting the oxygen-comprising alcohol vapor at from 300 to 600° C. in a sufficient number, for the desired capacity, of parallel reaction tubes surrounded by a fluidic heat transfer medium, packed with the supported catalyst and having an internal diameter D of from about 0.5 to 3 cm and a length of at least 5 cm, to form the corresponding aldehyde. |