Appeal No. 2001-0405
Application No. 09/169,087
mixture to a water content of up to 30% by weight and adding
solvent to vapor generated during the concentrating step to keep
any dinitrotoluene present liquid. By way of explanation
concerning this last mentioned step, when solvent is not added to
a vapor generated during the concentrating step, the
dinitrotoluene present in the vapor forms solid deposits in the
subsequent vapor condensation stage thereby resulting in a
fouling problem. By adding solvent to the vapor, the
dinitrotoluene manifests in a liquid rather than solid form in
the vapor condensation stage, thereby avoiding a fouling problem.
This appealed subject matter is adequately illustrated by
independent claim 1 which reads as follows:
1. A process for producing dinitrotoluene comprising:
a) reacting toluene with nitric acid at a temperature of
from about 60 to 200BC in amounts such that the molar ratio of
toluene to nitric acid is from about 1:1.5 to about 1:3.0 under
adiabatic conditions,
b) concentrating the reaction mixture from step a) to a
water content of up to 30% by weight,
c) removing the dinitrotoluene present in the reaction
mixture produced in a) completely or partially from the reaction
mixture before or after concentration in step b),
d) adding solvent to vapor generated during step b) to keep
any dinitrotoluene present liquid,
e) recovering dinitrotoluene from the concentrated mixture
formed in step b), and
2
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