Separation and purification of aqueous mixtures of acetic acid, formic acid and high boiling fractions uses apparatus with separation and distillation columns containing organic solvent

摘要

Separation and purification of aqueous mixtures of acetic acid, formic acid and high boiling fractions using a solvent from ethers, esters, ketones and alcohols involves using an apparatus comprising an extractor, a solvent stripper column to remove water and a solvent distillation column, separating a mixture of water and solvent and a second mixture of acetic acid, formic acid and high boiling fractions, removing the formic acid in a column and distilling off pure acetic acid, the water/solvent mixture being returned to a phase separator to give solvent, which is then recycled.