A neopentyl glycol by-product take-out device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a neopentyl glycol byproduct's device that takes out, include: rectifying tower body, rectifying tower body inside is provided with three mutually interval packing layer along tower height direction in proper order, the first interval area and the second interval area between the packing layer of corresponding three of rectifying tower body's lateral wall are provided with feed inlet and HPN take -out respectively, the second interval area of HPN take -out corresponding is provided with collection formula subassembly, collection formula subassembly is arranged to certain inclination angle, and is connected with HPN take -out, rectifying tower body top is provided with light component discharge port, and the heavy component discharge port is provided with in tower body bottom. The utility model discloses through the design of collection formula subassembly and HPN take -out can accurate separation out hydroxyl pivalic acid neopentyl glycol monoester, obtain high purity hydroxyl pivalic acid neopentyl glycol monoester, still benefit liquid flow and take out, guarantee tower body steady long -term operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of chemical equipment technology, and more specifically, to a device for extracting neopentyl glycol by-products. Background Technology

[0002] 2,2-Dimethyl-3-hydroxypropionic acid-2,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxypropyl ester (HPN) is a novel diol with wide applications in the production of polyesters, lubricants, and high-grade furniture paints. Compared to traditional diols such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, neopentyl glycol, and pentaerythritol, HPN molecules have longer carbon chains, larger molecular weights, and more methyl branches. This unique structure endows the synthesized polymers with excellent thermal stability, hydrolysis resistance, and oxidation resistance, as well as good molecular skeleton flexibility, making it a highly valuable diol for industrial applications.

[0003] Currently, the main source of HPN is as a byproduct generated during the production of neopentyl glycol. Specifically, a certain amount of HPN is produced during the neopentyl glycol preparation reaction. This HPN byproduct is usually discharged from the bottom of the separation tower as high-boiling-point waste liquid and requires separate purification to obtain the final HPN product. However, due to the immature technology for recovering and purifying HPN from neopentyl glycol byproducts, most of the HPN produced by neopentyl glycol production plants in China has not been effectively utilized, resulting in a waste of this high-value substance.

[0004] In existing processes, HPN byproducts generated during neopentyl glycol synthesis are fed into a neopentyl glycol product distillation column. Within this column, qualified neopentyl glycol is separated at the top, while the bottoms retain heavy components containing HPN. Currently, the industry primarily treats this HPN-containing bottoms heavy component as hazardous waste or transports it to a plant incinerator for incineration. Although some studies have proposed separating and purifying HPN from the neopentyl glycol bottoms heavy components, existing purification methods generally have significant drawbacks, failing to meet the purity requirements of subsequent industrial applications. Furthermore, they are prone to equipment blockage during separation, severely impacting the stability and continuity of the separation operation.

[0005] In view of the above, this application is hereby submitted. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this application is to provide a device for the extraction of neopentyl glycol by-products. This device adapts to the separation requirements of feed and side stream extraction through a three-section packing layer, and is equipped with a smooth surface and a 5°~10° inclined collection component to achieve the extraction of high-purity neopentyl glycol monoester of hydroxypentyl acid, while preventing clogging and coking, and ensuring stable long-term operation of the distillation column.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, this application provides the following technical solution: A device for collecting neopentyl glycol byproducts includes: a distillation column; The distillation column is internally arranged with three spaced-apart packing layers along its height. A feed inlet and an HPN outlet are respectively located in the first and second interval regions between the three packing layers on the sidewall of the distillation column. A collection assembly is located in the second interval region corresponding to the HPN outlet, arranged at a certain angle and connected to the HPN outlet. A light component outlet is located at the top of the distillation column, and a heavy component outlet is located at the bottom of the column.

[0008] Furthermore, the collecting component includes a liquid distributor; the liquid distributor includes a liquid collecting ring disposed at the upper part and a liquid collecting channel located below it, the liquid collecting ring is used to receive liquid falling from the upper packing, and the liquid collecting channel is connected to the liquid collecting ring to realize the collection and diversion of liquid.

[0009] Furthermore, the collection assembly also includes a support plate, and the liquid collection channel is fixedly installed on the upper surface of the support plate. The support plate has a staggered multi-level flow guiding stepped structure; the non-fixed end of the support plate is also equipped with a baffle or a grid.

[0010] Furthermore, the liquid collection channels are arranged in multiple parallel lines both longitudinally and laterally on the support plate, with distribution gaps between adjacent liquid collection channels; the extension direction of the liquid collection channels is consistent with the inclination direction of the support plate, which is used to guide the liquid to flow along the inclination direction and achieve uniform distribution.

[0011] Furthermore, the collecting component is connected to the inlet of the collecting pump via the HPN sampling outlet, and the outlet of the collecting pump is connected to the collecting side line, so that the liquid collected in the collection channel is output from the HPN sampling outlet.

[0012] Furthermore, one end of the feed inlet is connected to a feed pipe located outside the distillation column, and the other end extends into the first interval area and is connected to an integrated feed distributor; the integrated feed distributor includes a dual tangential swirl nozzle disposed at the inlet and a multi-stage diffusion guide cone connected downstream of the dual tangential swirl nozzle.

[0013] Furthermore, the light component discharge port is connected to a collection and reflux unit, which includes a cooler and a collection tank. The cooler is connected to the light component discharge port via a pipe, and the outlet end of the cooler is connected to the collection tank via a pipe. The top of the collection tank is connected to a vacuum pipe, and the bottom is provided with a liquid phase outlet, which is connected to a bidirectional pipe via a pipe to allow the liquid phase to reflux and discharge.

[0014] Furthermore, the tilt angle is between 5° and 10°.

[0015] Furthermore, the three packing layers are composed of random packing or structured packing, and each packing layer is independently installed in the distillation column body through a support grid.

[0016] Furthermore, a reboiler is provided at the bottom of the distillation column. The reboiler is connected to the distillation column via a pipeline and is used to provide rising gas reflux into the column.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects achieved by this application are as follows: By employing a segmented layout of three packing layers within the distillation column and key structural innovations in the collection components, the separation efficiency of by-products and the reliability of the unit's operation have been improved. Its core advantage lies in the designed collection-type liquid distributor as the extraction device. This device, with its 5-10° inclined angle, ensures that high-boiling-point HPN liquid flows smoothly to the extraction outlet under gravity, avoiding local stagnation, while maintaining the uniformity of gas-liquid distribution within the column. Simultaneously, the device's inner surface is precision-polished to a highly smooth finish, significantly reducing the risk of coking from high-viscosity HPN material, fundamentally solving the operational interruption problem caused by blockages in existing technologies. This structural design enables the unit to operate stably for extended periods and successfully extracts high-value-added HPN products with a purity ≥99.9% directly from the HPN extraction outlet, transforming a by-product originally intended for hazardous waste treatment into a qualified by-product, thereby improving resource utilization and economic benefits. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a novel pentylene glycol by-product extraction device according to this application; Figure 2 This is a partial enlarged view of the collectible components of this application.

[0019] Figure label: 1-Distillation column body, 2-Reboiler, 3-Collection assembly, 4-Collection pump, 5-Feed pipe, 6-First compartment, 7-Second compartment, 8-Cooler, 9-Collection tank, 10-First packing layer, 11-Second packing layer, 12-Third packing layer, 13-Collection channel, 14-Bearing plate, 15-Light component outlet, 16-Heavy component outlet, 17-Feed inlet, 18-HPN collection outlet. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the embodiments described below are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments, and are only used to illustrate the present invention, and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention. Where specific conditions are not specified in the embodiments, conventional conditions or conditions recommended by the manufacturer shall be followed. Where the manufacturers of reagents or instruments are not specified, they are all conventional products that can be purchased commercially.

[0021] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing the invention and for simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0022] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0023] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of this invention, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. These descriptions are for explanation purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[0024] See Figure 1 As shown in the figure, this embodiment provides a device for the extraction of neopentyl glycol by-products. The core of this device lies in its innovative structural design, which successfully solves the technical problem of efficiently, stably and continuously separating high-purity hydroxypentylene acid neopentyl glycol monoester (HPN) from complex process materials, and improves the device's anti-clogging and anti-coking performance and the reliability of long-term operation.

[0025] The main body of the extraction device is a vertically oriented distillation column 1. The internal design of the distillation column 1 consists of three interleaved packing layers arranged sequentially along the column height: a first packing layer 10, a second packing layer 11, and a third packing layer 12. This segmented packing layer layout is not a simple stacking; the intervals between each packing layer are defined by a first interval zone 1 and a second interval zone 7, forming key areas that allow for redistribution of the gas and liquid phases and enhanced mass transfer. It also provides the necessary physical space for installing internal components such as the feed distributor and the collection assembly 3. The packing itself can be flexibly selected according to the different separation requirements of each section. For example, in this embodiment, the upper section focuses on removing light components, while the lower section focuses on concentrating HPN. Different specific surface areas, stacking methods, or types of random / structured packing can be flexibly selected. These are reliably installed through the lower support grid, and the bottom of the packing layer is also equipped with a clamping grid to prevent bed loosening and airflow disturbance. This design enables the entire column to have differentiated separation capabilities in different sections, laying the foundation for the extraction of high-purity products.

[0026] The feed inlet 17 is located on the side wall of the first compartment 6 of the distillation column 1, situated in the upper middle part of the column 1. The feed inlet 17 is not a simple opening connecting to the external feed pipe 5; it extends into the inner end of the first compartment 6 of the distillation column 1 and connects to an integrated feed distributor. This distributor inlet employs a dual-tangential swirling nozzle design, allowing the incoming material to immediately form a uniform swirling flow for initial dispersion. Downstream of the swirling nozzles are multi-stage diffusion guide cones, further distributing the material evenly as droplets or liquid films across the entire cross-section of the packing layer below. This design fundamentally avoids localized overheating, channeling, or dead zones caused by uneven feed distribution, thus preventing material coking due to high-temperature retention. It also ensures a stable and uniform initial gas-liquid load in the subsequent rectification section, a crucial factor in guaranteeing the efficient and stable operation of the entire column.

[0027] The most prominent structure in this embodiment is the HPN outlet 18 and its corresponding built-in collection component 3. The HPN outlet 18 is located on the side wall of the distillation column 1, corresponding to the second interval zone 7, which is the area with the highest HPN concentration within the distillation column 1. The collection component 3 installed here is a structure that integrates collection, distribution, flow guidance, and extraction functions. This collection component 3 is connected to the HPN outlet 18 and is arranged at a certain tilt angle, which was designed to be between 5° and 10°. The selection of the tilt angle has undergone multiple tests and verifications. If the angle is too large, on the one hand, it will increase the installation difficulty of the collection component and make it difficult to ensure the stability of the component in the column; on the other hand, it will cause the liquid flow speed on the surface of the component to be too fast, which may result in the liquid flowing to the edge before it is fully collected, affecting the collection efficiency, and also hindering the uniform distribution of the liquid within the component. If the angle is too small, the flow resistance of the liquid on the surface of the component will increase, the flow speed will be slow, and liquid retention will easily occur, which will not only reduce the extraction efficiency, but may also cause some components to deposit due to prolonged liquid retention, leading to blockage problems. An inclination angle of 5° to 10° allows the liquid to flow at a suitable speed along the component surface while ensuring installation stability. This facilitates the liquid's convergence at the HPN outlet and ensures uniform distribution of the liquid within the component, providing an angle guarantee for the efficient extraction of high-purity HPN.

[0028] The collecting assembly 3, from top to bottom, mainly consists of a liquid collecting ring, a liquid collecting channel 13, and a support plate 14 with a specific inclination angle. The liquid collecting ring is located below the upper packing layer, and its main function is to efficiently collect the liquid falling from the upper packing layer. The liquid collecting channel 13 below it is connected to the liquid collecting ring and is responsible for collecting and initially guiding the liquid. The liquid collecting channel 13 is not placed horizontally, but is fixed to an inclined support plate 14 by a support structure, with its inclination angle precisely designed between 5° and 10°. This specific angle range is a key parameter that has been carefully weighed: if the angle is too small, the liquid flow dynamics are insufficient, and it is easy to stagnate and coke; if the angle is too large, it may lead to excessively fast liquid flow, uneven distribution, or even splashing, affecting the separation efficiency. At the same time, the smoothness of all liquid collecting surfaces is achieved through mechanical polishing or special coating treatment, which greatly reduces the adhesion and flow resistance of high-boiling-point, easily condensable HPN materials on their surfaces.

[0029] Multiple parallel collection channels 13 are arranged longitudinally and laterally on the support plate 14, with distribution gaps between adjacent collection channels 13. The extension direction of the collection channels 13 is consistent with the inclination direction of the support plate. The multiple parallel collection channels 13 can expand the liquid collection range, ensuring that the liquid on the support plate 14 can be fully collected and avoiding collection dead zones. The distribution gaps between adjacent collection channels 14 are to allow liquid not directly collected by the collection channels 13 to flow downward through the gaps, so that the uncollected liquid is evenly and gently redistributed to the surface of the next section of packing layer below, allowing it to continue to participate in the distillation process, come into contact with the rising gas phase again, and supplement mass transfer, further improving the liquid purity. The extension direction of the collection channels 13 is consistent with the inclination direction of the support plate 14, which can guide the liquid to flow along the collection channels to the HPN outlet 18 with the help of the inclination angle of the support plate, ensuring that the liquid can be smoothly collected at the HPN outlet 18 and improving the extraction efficiency.

[0030] The support plate 14 itself is designed with a staggered, multi-stage, stepped flow guiding structure, and is equipped with baffles or grids at the non-fixed ends. The liquid collection channels 13 are arranged in multiple parallel lines on the support plate, with precisely calculated distribution gaps between the channels. This multi-stage, stepped, and parallel layout together constitutes a highly efficient liquid guiding and distribution system. This allows the component to continuously extract a portion of high-purity liquid without disrupting the existing gas-liquid balance within the tower.

[0031] The high-purity HPN liquid collected in the collection channel 13 is drawn out through the HPN outlet 18. The outlet is connected to the inlet of the collection pump 4, and the HPN is continuously drawn out via a side stream through the stable delivery of the collection pump 4. The method of using the collection pump 4 to deliver the extracted liquid ensures stable and controllable flow rate, avoids unstable extraction caused by pressure fluctuations within the tower, and is an important guarantee for achieving high product purity and continuous and stable operation of the equipment.

[0032] Next, a light component outlet 15 is provided at the top of the distillation column 1. This light component outlet 15 is connected to a collection and reflux unit, which consists of a cooler 8, a collection tank 9, and corresponding pipelines and control systems. The outlet end of the cooler 8 is connected to the collection tank 9 via a pipeline. The top of the collection tank 9 is connected to a vacuum pipeline, and the bottom is provided with a liquid phase outlet, which is connected to a bidirectional pipeline via a pipeline. The light component outlet 15 is designed to discharge the light components separated from the column, preventing their accumulation and impact on separation efficiency. The cooler 8 cools the gaseous light components discharged from the light component outlet into a liquid phase for subsequent collection. The collection tank 9 stores the cooled liquid light components. Its top-connected vacuum pipe can work in conjunction with the negative pressure operation of the distillation column 1 (column pressure 0.6–15 kPa) to maintain a negative pressure environment within the column. This negative pressure helps lower the boiling point of each component, reducing energy consumption during separation, and also promotes the movement of light components towards the top of the column, improving separation efficiency. The bidirectional pipe connected to the bottom of the collection tank 9 can, on the one hand, return a portion of the liquid light components to the distillation column 1 via a reflux pump to replenish the liquid phase within the column, maintain gas-liquid balance, and further improve separation efficiency. On the other hand, it can discharge excess liquid light components for subsequent processing or recycling, maximizing resource utilization.

[0033] A heavy component discharge outlet 16 is provided at the bottom of the distillation column 1, and a reboiler 2 is also provided at the outer bottom of the distillation column 1. The reboiler 2 is connected to the distillation column 1 through a pipeline. The heavy component discharge outlet 16 is used to discharge the heavy components separated in the column, so as to avoid the accumulation of heavy components in the column bottom and affect the normal operation of the column. The function of the reboiler 2 is to provide rising vapor reflux into the column. The liquid in the column bottom is vaporized under the heating of the reboiler, forming a vapor phase that flows upward and makes full contact and mass transfer with the liquid phase falling in the column. If there is no vapor reflux, the liquid phase cannot effectively interact with the vapor phase during the falling process, and the components are difficult to separate. Therefore, the vapor reflux provided by the reboiler 2 is the key power source to ensure the continuous gas-liquid mass transfer in the column and improve the separation efficiency.

[0034] In other words, the neopentyl glycol by-product extraction device provided in this embodiment employs a three-section packing layer layout and an integrated collection component located in the middle of the tower. By precisely positioning the feed distributor and collection component in the interval areas between the packing layers, the gas-liquid distribution and mass transfer efficiency within the tower are optimized. The collection component utilizes a 5°-10° inclined liquid collection surface structure, coupled with surface smoothing technology, fundamentally solving the industry problem of coking and clogging of high-boiling-point materials. Simultaneously, the integrated collection-distribution-extraction design replaces traditional complex collection techniques, significantly improving space utilization and operational stability. These structural improvements collectively achieve continuous and stable production of HPN products with a purity ≥99.9%.

[0035] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for collecting neopentyl glycol by-products, characterized in that, include: Distillation column body; The distillation column is internally arranged with three spaced-apart packing layers along its height. A feed inlet and an HPN outlet are respectively located in the first and second interval regions between the three packing layers on the sidewall of the distillation column. A collection assembly is located in the second interval region corresponding to the HPN outlet, arranged at a certain angle and connected to the HPN outlet. A light component outlet is located at the top of the distillation column, and a heavy component outlet is located at the bottom of the column.

2. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 1, characterized in that, The collection component includes a liquid distributor; the liquid distributor includes a liquid collection ring disposed at the top and a liquid collection channel located below it, the liquid collection ring is used to receive liquid falling from the upper packing, and the liquid collection channel is connected to the liquid collection ring to realize the collection and diversion of liquid.

3. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 2, characterized in that, The collection assembly also includes a support plate, and the liquid collection channel is fixedly installed on the upper surface of the support plate. The support plate has a staggered multi-level flow guiding stepped structure. The non-fixed end of the support plate is also equipped with a baffle or a grid.

4. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 3, characterized in that, The liquid collection channels are arranged in multiple parallel lines both longitudinally and laterally on the support plate, with distribution gaps between adjacent liquid collection channels; the extension direction of the liquid collection channels is consistent with the inclination direction of the support plate, which is used to guide the liquid to flow along the inclination direction and achieve uniform distribution.

5. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 3, characterized in that, The collecting component is connected to the inlet of the collecting pump through the HPN sampling outlet, and the outlet of the collecting pump is connected to the collecting side line, so that the liquid collected in the collection channel is output from the HPN sampling outlet.

6. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 1, characterized in that, One end of the feed inlet is connected to the feed pipe located outside the distillation column, and the other end extends into the first interval area and is connected to the integrated feed distributor; the integrated feed distributor includes a dual tangential swirl nozzle disposed at the inlet and a multi-stage diffusion guide cone connected downstream of the dual tangential swirl nozzle.

7. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 1, characterized in that, The light component discharge port is connected to a collection and reflux unit, which includes a cooler and a collection tank. The cooler is connected to the light component discharge port through a pipe, and the outlet end of the cooler is connected to the collection tank through a pipe. The top of the collection tank is connected to a vacuum pipe, and the bottom is provided with a liquid phase outlet, which is connected to a bidirectional pipe through a pipe to allow the liquid phase to reflux and be discharged.

8. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tilt angle is between 5° and 10°.

9. The apparatus for collecting neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 1, characterized in that, The three packing layers are composed of random packing or structured packing, and each packing layer is independently installed in the distillation column body through a support grid.

10. The extraction device for neopentyl glycol by-products according to claim 1, characterized in that, A reboiler is also provided at the bottom of the distillation column. The reboiler is connected to the distillation column via a pipeline and is used to provide rising gas reflux into the column.

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