WO1997012654A1

WO1997012654A1 - Method for recovering acetone

Info

Publication number: WO1997012654A1
Application number: PCT/US1995/012991
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kylan Inger Tanner
Original assignee: Exxon Chemical Patents Inc.
Priority date: 1995-10-05
Filing date: 1995-10-05
Publication date: 1997-04-10

Abstract

A process for recovering substantially pure acetone from a crude acetone stream which includes the steps of: 1) a topping operation to remove lights via conduit (9) such as isobutylene and propylene oxides in topping tower (1); 2) an acid resin treatment to remove in reactor (23) epoxides via conduit (27) such as isobutylene oxide and 1,2-epoxy butylene; 3) a caustic reactive distillation in tower (29) to remove aldehydes such as isobutyraldehyde and butyraldehyde; 4) a water dissolution to remove alkanes in separator (51) such as 2,2,4-trimethyl-pentane; 5) an extractive distillation with water to separate acetone from methanol in tower (5); and 6) a one step glycol extractive distillation in tower (73) to remove traces of water to attain a commercial grade acetone which meets the following specifications: 99.5 % acetone, a permanganate time of greater than 30 minutes, a hydrocarbon content of less than 100 ppm, and less than 0.5 % water.

Description

METHOD FOR RECOVERING ACETONE

The present invention generally relates to a method for recovering a commercial grade acetone from a crude acetone stream which comprises acetone, methanol, various C₂-C₄ oxygenates, alkanes and water.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Crude acetone streams are typically a by-product of propylene oxide production. Unfortunately, the crude acetone by-product streams include a substantial level of impurities. The typical compositional make-up of these crude acetone streams is 50 to 95% acetone, 1 to 20% methanol, 1 to 10% C₂-C₄ oxygenates, 0.01 to 5% alkanes, 0.1 to 10% water, and 0-1% isobutylene.

It would be highly desirable to separate substantially pure acetone from this crude acetone stream. The most critical specifications of commercial grade acetone are greater than 99.5% acetone, greater than 30 minutes permanganate time, clear water miscibility (i.e., turbidity) as measured by a hydrocarbon content of less than 100 ppm, and less than 0.5% water.

Unfortunately, many ofthe impurities in the crude acetone stream form homogeneous azeotropes with the acetone. Homogeneous azeotropes are where two components are miscible in the liquid, unlike heterogeneous azeotropes which form two liquid phases (e.g., water and alkane). For example, methanol forms a homogeneous azeotrope with acetone. Homogeneous azeotropes also form with Cg alkanes and acetone. The formation of homogeneous azeotropes make separation ofthe acetone from the impurities rather difficult under conventional separation procedures. Additionally, most ofthe contaminants have substantially similar boiling points to that of acetone, making straight distillation alone impractical from a separation standpoint. Another problem with crude acetone streams is that they tend to form acids when placed in storage in contact with air for a relatively short duration, i.e., a few months.

Aside from the homogeneous azeotrope formed between methanol and acetone, all ofthe above-mentioned impurities tend to dramatically affect the crude acetone product stream, thereby making it unfit as a commercial grade acetone_. For example, light components such as isobutylene affects acetone purity and may polymerize in subsequent reaction steps. Epoxides such as isobutylene oxide and butylene oxide affect acetone purity. Aldehydes such as isobutyraldehyde and butyraldehyde cause failure ofthe acetone permanganate test. Alkanes such as 2,2,4-trimethylpentane cause failure of acetone water miscibility turbidity test. Water also affects acetone purity and acids such as isobutyric acid and normal butyric acid cause equipment and catalyst corrosion.

Crude acetone streams can be used to make isopropyl alcohol. However, it would be most desirable to develop a method for producing commercial grade acetone, i.e., 99.5% acetone, from such crude acetone streams such that it may be sold for high margin applications other than isopropyl alcohol production.

However, separation of acetone from the crude acetone stream has proved most difficult due to the many homogeneous azeotropes formed between the acetone and the other impurities therein and the relatively similar boiling points between the acetone and the other impurities.

The present inventors have discovered that many conventional separation methods are unable to separate acetone from the other impurities ofthe crude acetone stream. For example, the present inventors initially attempted to take an "easy" lights cut from the crude acetone stream, then take out the epoxide and aldehyde contaminants by adsorption. The adsorption step is then followed by an extractive distillation to separate the bulk methanol/acetone mixture. It was believed that the resulting acetone would meet commercial specifications while the by-product methanol might be pure enough to make a saleable by-product. It was soon realized by the present inventors, however, that due to the water content of the stream, the best that could be hoped for was fuel disposition for the methanol.

The present inventors also tried to selectively hydrogenate without hydrogenating the acetone to isopropyl alcohol. Unfortunately, regardless ofthe hydrogenation catalyst or operating conditions, the rate of aldehyde hydrogenation was found to be approximately twenty times that of acetone hydrogenation. With the "topped" crude acetone stream, it would be expected that the isobutyraldehyde content would be approximately 0.5%. To meet commercial grade acetone specifications approximately 95% conversion ofthe isobutyraldehyde is required. In order to achieve 95% isobutyraldehyde conversion, 5-10%) acetone loss to isopropyl alcohol is required. When combined with all the other losses in the system, this level of acetone loss was judged too high to be economic and further hydrogenation work was dropped.

The present inventors have now developed a unique process which is capable of separating commercial grade acetone from a crude acetone stream comprising acetone, methanol, light hydrocarbons, epoxides, aldehydes, alkanes, light olefins, and water. This novel process is capable of separating the various homogeneous azeotropes formed between the acetone and the other impurities, while also separating acetone from impurities having substantially similar boiling point thereto. More importantly, however, the present inventors have developed a unique process which reverses the conventional order of by-product removal, i.e., the trace components are removed during the initial recovery steps followed by the primary methanol and water separation steps. This order of separation has been discovered to greatly reduce the amount of additional downstream separation equipment required to remove products which are produced during the trace component separation steps. The present inventors have discovered that ifthe removal of trace components is conducted towards the end ofthe acetone recovery process then the by-products produced during the trace component separation steps would require additional separation equipment. These additional separation steps are both costly and inefficient. To the contrary, using the unique process of the present invention enables the by-products ofthe trace separation steps to be removed via the required downstream methanol and water separation equipment. Therefore, the unique process scheme according to the present invention is capable of recovering commercial grade acetone in an extremely cost effective manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The novel process according to the present invention for recovering a commercial grade acetone from a crude acetone stream which comprises acetone, methanol, light hydrocarbons, epoxides, aldehydes, alkanes, light olefins and water, comprises the following steps: (a) removing light hydrocarbons from the crude acetone stream, thereby producing a first acetone product stream; (b) removing epoxides from the first acetone product stream, thereby producing a second acetone product stream; (c) removing aldehydes from the second acetone product stream, thereby producing a third acetone product stream; (d) removing alkanes from the third acetone product stream, thereby producing a fourth acetone product stream; (e) removing methanol from the fourth acetone product stream, thereby producing a fifth acetone product stream and a methanol by-products stream; (f) removing water from the fifth acetone product stream, thereby producing a commercial grade acetone product stream which has an acetone concentration of at least 99.5% acetone, a permanganate time of more than 30 minutes, a hydrocarbon content of less than 100 ppm, and a water concentration of less than 0.5%. The process may optionally include a step of neutralizing any acid components within the crude acetone stream prior to the step of removing light hydrocarbons from the crude acetone stream. It may also include a step of removing water and heavy hydrocarbons from the methanol by-products stream, thereby producing a crude methanol product stream.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation ofthe continuous acetone recovery stream according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The novel process for recovering a commercial grade acetone from a crude acetone stream according to the present invention comprises the following steps:

( 1 ) a topping operation to remove lights such as isobutylene and propylene oxides to obtain acetone purity and avoid isobutylene polymerization in subsequent steps;

(2) acid resin treatment to remove epoxides such as isobutylene oxide and 1,2- epoxy butylene to obtain acetone purity; (3) caustic reactive distillation to remove aldehydes such as isobutyraldehyde and butyraldehyde which typically cause failure ofthe acetone permanganate test; (4) water dissolution to cause a phase break to remove alkanes such as 2,2,4-trimethyl-pentane which typically cause failure ofthe acetone water miscibility turbidity test; (5) extractive distillation with water to separate acetone from methanol; and (6) a one step glycol extractive distillation to remove traces of water to attain acetone purity.

Optionally, the topping operation is preceded by a caustic treatment step for the purpose of deactivating any acid components such as isobutyric acid and normal butyric acid to avoid equipment and catalyst corrosion. The water extractive distillation step above is preferably followed by methanol distillation in the instance where it is desirable to recover a crude methanol product stream from the bottoms of extractive distillation step (5) above. The crude methanol product stream is separated from water and miscellaneous heavies, thereby recovering a crude methanol stream

Crude acetone streams are generally produced as a by-product of propylene oxide synthesis The streams have a nominal composition of 50 to 95% acetone, 1 to 20% methanol, 1 to 10% C₂-C₄ oxygenates, 0 01 to 5% alkanes, 0-1% isobutylene and 0 1 to 10% water The multi-step process developed by the present inventors is capable of producing commercial grade acetone which meets the following specifications 99 5% acetone, a permanganate time of greater than 30 minutes, clear water miscibility (turbidity) as measured by a hydrocarbon content of less than 100 ppm, and less than 0 5% water

In order for the substantially pure acetone, which is separated from a crude acetone by-product stream generated from a propylene oxide synthesis process, to meet the above commercial grade acetone specifications, the present inventors developed the following multi-step process

ACID TREATMENT

During the middle ofthe process development, it was recognized that acids were forming, perhaps from air oxidation ofthe aldehydes Acids in "old samples" were measured as high as 0 5 wt %, whereas "fresh samples" showed lower levels. It is well known that these acids could not be tolerated in the carbon steel equipment used throughout the acetone recovery process ofthe present invention

Since it is believed that acid formation could be autocatalytic, the present inventors have determined that the best way to treat the acid was to perform a mild caustic treatment ofthe crude acetone stream using sodium hydroxide. One downside to caustic treatment is that the sodium carboxylate along with entrained caustic could deactivate any downstream acid resin system.

If either the crude acetone stream did not include any trace acids or ifthe recovery equipment was made of a material which was not corrosive under acidic conditions, then the caustic treatment step would not be required.

TOPPING DISTILLATION

A significant percentage of lights, i.e., isobutylene and propylene oxide, were found in the crude acetone stream. These lights must be removed to obtain acetone purity and to prevent isobutylene polymerization in subsequent reaction steps. The present inventors determined that topping distillation was a suitable means for removing such lights. It was also discovered that topping distillation had the added benefit of removing significant quantities of a "close boiler", isobutylene oxide.

To counter the problem that small amounts of caustic from the acid treatment above could be entrained in the bottoms ofthe topping distillation, the present inventors determined to take a vapor side drawn off from the bottom ofthe column. That way, no caustic or sodium salts would deactivate any downstream acid resin system.

ACID RESIN TREATMENT

An acid resin treatment step is used for the purpose of removing isobutylene oxide and 1,2-epoxy butane, and thus further increasing the acetone purity ofthe crude acetone stream. Initial tests ofthe acidic resin (Amberlyst® A- 15 sold by Aldrich Chemical Co.) proved effective at reacting out epoxides from the crude acetone stream as long as no light olefinic material was present (i.e., must have C₄ olefins taken out via an upstream topping distillation treatment prior to acid resin treatment). An added benefit discovered from the use of acidic resin was that the resin would also remove a significant portion ofthe aldehydes in the crude acetone stream. Traces of aldehydes such as isobutyraldehyde and butyraldehyde cause failure ofthe permanganate test which would result in a recovered acetone product which would not meet the specifications for commercial grade acetone.

Pilot plant testing by the present inventors determined that the use of higher temperatures in the acid resin treatment proved to significantly extend resin life up to the limit ofthe resin maximum operating temperature (e g , 90-120°C). At 100°C, resin lives greater than 3,000 bed volumes were achieved.

CAUSTIC REACTIVE DISTILLATION A caustic reactive distillation was performed on the previously treated crude acetone stream in order to remove isobutyraldehyde, normal butyraldehyde, dimethoxypropane, and heavy aldol condensation products This caustic reactive distillation worked surprisingly well It also generated diacetone alcohol and mesityl oxide which are removed as heavies

Kinetic measurements were taken to optimize the level of caustic dosing, and it was determined by the present inventors that 0.25 wt % NaOH, based on crude acetone stream feed was acceptable due to the temperature/time available in a typical pilot unit If caustic was added at too high a concentration, e.g., 50% NaOH, a cloudy suspension resulted Hence, the present inventors determined that the caustic needed to be added dilute enough to have the mixed stream be completely homogeneous and avoid suspension formation, approximately 4% NaOH in water. This would avoid solids build-up in the caustic reactive distillation tower.

The heavy fraction by-product, i.e., diacetone alcohol and mesityl oxide, taken from the tower bottom was show to separate into caustic and organic phases. The formation ofthe caustic phase reduces the severity ofthe caustic treat, thereby reducing the caustic treat severity and heavies made in the hottest sections ofthe distillation tower After water separation, the organic portion ofthe heavies could be sent to fuel disposal Some sodium organic salts would be expected to be contained in this heavies fuel disposal stream.

WATER TREATMENT

Commercial grade acetone must meet a test which allows the acetone to be diluted 1 part acetone with 9 parts water and have the resulting solution clear. At concentrations as low as 100 ppm, the alkanes break phase and cause the acetone/water solution to turn turbid Based on the investigations conducted by the present inventors, it is believed necessary to reduce the alkane content in the crude acetone stream below approximately 100 ppm, preferably between about 50 to 100 ppm

Cg-C₉ alkanes proved impossible to remove via simple distillation. Many Cg alkanes would either azeotrope or have relative volatilities very close to acetone. Hence, the present inventors discovered that the best way to separate alkanes from the crude acetone stream was to dissolve the alkanes in water. At approximately 50%) water addition, alkanes became insoluble and broke phase from the acetone to the extent that the water/acetone phase contained less than 100 ppm alkane.

The obvious disadvantage of the water treatment is that it requires recovering the acetone from the water. However, as shown in the process flow scheme of Fig. 1, this is not as bad as it might seem in that the added water does not go overhead, but stays bottom in the next two towers. Hence the additional energy requirement is minimal.

EXTRACTIVE DISTD LATION

Extractive distillation causes the more polar methanol to become heavier relative to the acetone and non-polars (e.g., acetone) to become more volatile. The preferred extractive distillation agents are either glycol (e.g., ethylene glycol or propylene glycol) or water. Under normal circumstances, glycol has the advantage of being capable of making a "dry" acetone product directly from the overhead of the lead extraction tower. Glycol also consumes less energy than water. However, if water is used to remove the alkanes in the water treatment step above, then water must also be used as the extractive agent. If water is the extractive agent, then a final "drying" column is required to get the water level down to meet acetone purity requirements.

Ifthe level of alkanes in the crude acetone stream can somehow be reduced to a low enough level, then glycol would be the extractive agent of choice since it would have lower energy cost and lower equipment utilization (i.e., lower hydraulics and no "drying" column).

If glycol is used as the extractive agent of choice in the above extractive distillation step, then it is preferable for economic reasons to recover glycol as bottoms from the extractive distillation tower and recycle it to a section ofthe extractive distillation tower which is higher than the section at which the crude acetone stream enters the tower. REGENERATION DISTILLATION

This step is optional if it is desired to separate crude methanol from the aqueous bottoms taken from the water treatment tower The bottoms from the water treatment tower is passed to a distillation tower where a crude methanol stream is taken overhead and water is taken as bottoms The crude methanol overhead stream typically contains acetone, methanol, and some water The water from the bottom ofthe regeneration can be used as make-up water in the caustic treatment step and/or the water treatment step The crude methanol stream can be either sent to fuel disposal or sent to storage for eventual sale

DRYING EXTRACTIVE DISTILLATION

Continuous pilot unit extractive distillation at very high reflux ratios were incapable of drying the acetone to levels of water which would allow it to attain the 99 5% acetone concentration which is required for commercial grade acetone Hence, when a water treatment step is used to remove alkanes and especially when water is used as the extractive agent during extractive distillation, drying extractive distillation becomes necessary to remove the remaining water In drying extractive distillation, an extractive agent such as glycol is used to lower the volatility of water relative to acetone Because the level of water is low, not much glycol is needed

The key feature ofthe drying extractive distillation step used in the present invention is that the drying occurs all in "one step" by using a single tower rather than two towers A vapor side stream can be taken off the lower section ofthe tower as a side stream which is relatively rich in water and lean in glycol The side stream removes the water from the tower while keeping the glycol losses low The glycol is taken as bottoms and preferably recycled to an upper portion ofthe tower together with a small amount of make-up glycol The commercial grade acetone is taken overhead and sent to storage The present invention can best be described by referring to Fig. 1 which schematically depicts the overall acetone recovery stream according to the present invention. A crude acetone stream is fed to topping tower 1 via conduit 3 where it is contacted with approximately 4% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in water supplied from tank 5 via conduit 7. The purpose of adding NaOH to the crude acetone stream in topping tower 1 is for deactivating any traces of acid resins such as isobutyric acid and normal butyric acid contained in the crude acetone stream, thereby avoiding corrosion to topping tower 1 equipment and any catalyst used in the process

Topping tower 1 preferably has between 40 to 80 trays, a reflux ratio in the range between about 30 to 50 a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 56.7°C and a bottoms temperature of about 107°C at 3 atms. pressure. Therefore, not only are the acid resins neutralized in topping tower 1, but the lights such as isobutylene and propylene oxides are taken overhead via conduit 9, heavies are taken as bottoms via conduit 1 1 and the resultant acetone product stream is taken as a side stream via conduit 13 just slightly above the bottom section of tower 1 A portion ofthe heavies are recycled from conduit 1 1 back to the bottom section of tower 1 via conduit 15 and pump 17 for the purpose of recapturing any acetone which may have been taken as bottoms along with the heavies

The reason for removing the acetone product stream via side stream 13 is to counter the problem that small amounts of caustic could be entrained in the bottoms. This way, no caustic or sodium salts would deactivate the downstream acid resin. Removal ofthe lights via conduit 9 assists in the purification ofthe acetone stream, as well as avoids isobutylene polymerization in subsequent distillations The acetone stream taken from tower 1 via conduit 13 is cooled via heat exchanger 19, wherein a portion ofthe cooled acetone product stream is optionally recycled back to tower 1 via conduit 21, whereas the majority ofthe acetone product stream is sent to acid resin reactor 23 via conduit 25 Acid resin reactor 23 is filled with an acidic resin, e g , Amberlyst® A- 15, in order to react out epoxides such as isobutylene oxide and 1,2-epoxy butylane from the acetone product stream Acid resin reactor 23 also removed a portion ofthe aldehydes Acid resin reactor 23 preferably has a temperature of between about 80 to 120°C The epoxides and aldehydes are removed as bottoms from reactor 23 as heavies

Thereafter, the acetone product stream less the removed epoxides and aldehydes is taken as bottoms via conduit 27 and sent to caustic distillation tower 29 for removal ofthe remaining aldehydes such as isobutyraldehyde and butyraldehyde The problem with the aldehydes is that they tend to cause the acetone to fail the acetone permanganate test, thus making it a non-commercial grade product Sodium hydroxide is supplied to caustic tower 29 via conduit 3 1 from tank 5 Caustic tower 29 preferably has between 40 to 80 trays, a reflux ratio in the range between about 1 5 to 4, a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms , and an overhead temperature of 90°C and a bottoms temperature of about 125.5°C at 3 atms pressure The neutralized acetone product stream is taken overhead via conduit 33 and pump 35, while the heavy fraction by-product is taken from tower 29 via conduit 37

The heavy fraction by-product is delivered via conduit 37 to caustic separator 39 since it readily separates into caustic phase and an organic phase A portion ofthe heavy fraction by-product taken as bottoms can be recycled to the lower portion of tower 29 via conduit 47 and pump 49 in order to recapture any acetone contained therein. The caustic phase may be recycled to caustic tank 5 via conduit 41 and the organic phase is taken overhead via conduit 43 and sent to storage tank 45.

The neutralized acetone product stream taken overhead from tower 29 can be either recycled to caustic tower 29 for additional separation of entrained caustic or sent to alkane separator 51 after passing through heat exchanger 53. Heat exchanger 53 reduces the temperature ofthe neutralized acetone product stream from approximately 121°C (250°F) to 38°C (100°C). Prior to being sent to alkane separator 51 , the cooled, neutralized acetone product stream is mixed with water supplied via conduit 55. Alkanes such as 2,2,4-trimethylpentane are forced to break into a separate phase and are removed.

The substantially alkane-free acetone product stream is passed through a final alkane finishing filter 61 to remove remaining slight traces of alkane for the purpose of removing any traces of alkanes therefrom. The alkane-free acetone product stream is then passed via conduit 63 to a wet acetone tower 65 to separate acetone from methanol via extractive distillation with water. Wet acetone tower 65 preferably has between 60 to 100 trays, a reflux ratio in the range between about 1.5 to 4, a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 77.8°C and a bottoms temperature of about 1 18.9°C at a 2 atms. pressure.

A substantially pure acetone product stream is taken overhead via conduit 67 and pump 69, and either recycled to the top portion of wet acetone tower 65 for further separation or sent via conduit 71 to dry acetone tower 73 where traces of water are removed therefrom via a one step glycol extractive distillation to attain a commercial grade acetone product stream having an acetone concentration of at least 99.5% Glycol is fed into dry acetone tower 73 via conduit 75. The glycol fed via conduit 75 is provided from make-up glycol via conduit 77 and/or the bottoms taken from tower 73 via conduit 79 and pump 81. Alternatively, a portion ofthe bottoms from tower 73 may be recycled back to the bottom section of tower 73 via pump 81 and conduit 83 for the purpose of recapturing additional acetone.

Dry acetone tower 73 preferably has between 40 to 80 trays, a reflux ratio in the range between about 1 to 5, a pressure in the range between about 1 to 2 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 63.9°C and a bottoms temperature of about 1 12.8°C at 1.3 atms. pressure. A commercial grade acetone product stream having at least 99.5% acetone is taken overhead from dry acetone tower 73 via conduit 85 and pump 87, and either recycled to the top section of tower 73 for additional separation or sent to storage tank 89.

The extractive distillation step conducted in wet acetone tower 65 is optionally followed by distillation of the bottoms taken therefrom via conduit 91. The bottoms from conduit 91 can be either recycled via pump 93 and conduit 95 to the bottom section of tower 65 for the recapture of additional acetone or passed via conduit 99 to buffer tank 97. The buffer tank stream is then sent via conduit 101 to methanol distillation tower 103 where a crude methanol product stream is taken overhead via conduit 105, and a buffer/purge and make-up water stream is taken as bottoms via conduit 107 where it is either recycled via pump 109 and conduit 1 1 1 or sent to storage tank 1 13. The water stream held in storage tank 1 13 is sent via conduit 1 15 to caustic tank 5 as make-up water or via conduit 55 as water for use in alkane separator 51

Methanol distillation tower 103 preferably has between 20 to 40 trays, a reflux ratio in the range between about 4 to 8, a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 99 4°C and a bottoms temperature of about 131°C at 3 atms. pressure.

The permanganate time may be readily determined by the procedure of ASTM D-329 as known to the skilled artisan

Claims

IN THE CLAIMS

1. A process for recovering acetone from a crude acetone stream which comprises acetone, methanol, light hydrocarbons, epoxides, aldehydes, alkanes and water, said process comprises the following steps: removing light hydrocarbons from said crude acetone stream, thereby producing a first acetone product stream; removing epoxides from said first acetone product stream, thereby producing a second acetone product stream; removing aldehydes from said second acetone product stream, thereby producing a third acetone product stream; removing alkanes from said third acetone product stream, thereby producing a fourth acetone product stream; removing methanol from said fourth acetone product stream, thereby producing a fifth acetone product stream and a methanol by-products stream; removing water from said fifth acetone product stream, thereby producing a commercial grade acetone product stream which has an acetone concentration of at least 99.5% acetone, a permanganate time of greater than 30 minutes, a hydrocarbon content of less than 100 ppm, and a water concentration of less than 0.5%.

2. The process according to claim 1 further comprises a step of deactivating any acid resins disposed within said crude acetone stream prior to the step of removing light hydrocarbons from said crude acetone stream.

3. The process according to claim 1 further comprising a step of removing water and heavy hydrocarbons from said methanol by-products stream, thereby producing a crude methanol product stream.

4. The process according to claim 1 wherein said step for removing light hydrocarbons from said crude acetone stream is conducted by distillation at a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 56.7°C and a bottoms temperature of about 107°C at 3 atms. pressure

5. The process according to claim 1 wherein said step for removing epoxides from said first acetone product stream is conducted by contacting said first acetone product stream with an acid resin at a temperature of between about 80 to 120°C.

6. The process according to claim 1 wherein said step for removing aldehydes from said second acetone product stream resin is conducted by caustic reactive distillation at a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 90°C and a bottoms temperature of about 125.5°C at 3 atms. pressure

7. The process according to claim 1 wherein said step for removing alkanes from said third acetone product stream is conducted by water dissolution to force alkane phase separation and removal.

8. The process according to claim 1 wherein said step for removing methanol from said fourth acetone product stream is conducted by extractive distillation with water at a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 77.8°C and a bottoms temperature of about 1 18.9°C at 3 atms. pressure

9. The process according to claim 1 wherein said step for removing water from said fifth acetone product stream is conducted by extractive distillation with glycol at a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 63.9°C and a bottoms temperature of about 112.8°C at 3 atms. pressure

10 The process according to claim 2 wherein said step of deactivating any acid resins disposed within said crude acetone stream is conducted by the addition of caustic.

1 1 The process according to claim 10 wherein said caustic is approximately 4% sodium hydroxide in water

12 The process according to claim 3 wherein the step of removing water and heavy hydrocarbons from said methanol by-products stream is conducted by distillation at a pressure in the range between about 1 to 5 atms., and an overhead temperature of about 99 4°C and a bottoms temperature of about 131 °C at 3 atms pressure.