ABSTRACT

The manufacturing processes of Eastman Chemical Company generate several billion pounds of water I acetic acid mixtures with an average concentration of 30% acetic acid and another several more billion pounds of water I acetic acid mixtures in the concentration range between 93 and 96% acetic acid, from which the acid was recovered and recycled. Although these data are for only one company, they call attention to the fact that nearly all industrial processes that use acetic acid must deal with the problem of recovering the acid from its aqueous solutions. Clearly, the recovery of acetic acid from its aqueous solutions is a problem of enduring importance in the chemical process industries.