Alcohols

Oxo alcohol process chains typically start with the fine-cleaning of short chain olefins like propene or the desulphurisation of C7 to C11 olefins for higher alcohols. They include the hydrogenation of aldehyde to alcohol and generally finish with a fine-cleaning/polishing, which reduces the carbonyl value of the finished alcohol to a certain specified level.

Fatty alcohols & natural detergent alcohols are sourced from natural oils, mainly lauric oils. They can be produced either by direct hydrogenation of the corresponding fatty acid, hydrogenation of the corresponding methyl esters (FAME), or hydrogenation of wax esters - the most recent process variant. The catalysts are applied in slurry processes as oxidic powders or in fixed-bed processes. Tablets are generally prereduced and stabilised. Süd-Chemie offers a broad variety of catalysts containing copper chromites our G-99 series, Chromium-free copper catalysts (T-4489, T-2130), among others.

Furfuryl-alcohol can be sourced by the hydrogenation of furfural or as a by-product from the hydrogenation of maleic acid or maleic acid esters. For the hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl-alcohol we supply copper chromite catalysts which are highly heat resistant and regenerable. Süd-Chemie´s standard catalyst for this application is G-22 F.

Acetophenone Hydrogenation to phenyl-methylcarbinol is an important reaction which accompanies the Halcon-Atlanic Richfield oxirane process. Propylene oxide is the main product of this process. A side product is acetophenone.

last modified, April 2006

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