Reactions Systems Eastman Kodak

Reactive distillation is one of the classic techniques of process intensification. This combination of reaction and distillation was first developed by Eastman Kodak under the 1984 patent in which methyl acetate was produced from methanol and acetic acid. One of the key elements of the design is to use the acetic acid as both a reactant and an extraction solvent within the system, thereby breaking the azeotrope that exists within the system. Likewise, the addition of the catalyst to the system allowed sufficient residence time such that high yields could be obtained, making the process commercially viable. Other examples in which reactive distillation may enhance selectivity include those of serial reactions, in which the intermediate is the desired product, and the reaction and separation rates can be systematically controlled to optimize the yield of the desired intermediate. ... 

The concept of co-carbonylation of methanol/methyl acetate mixtures was first introduced by BASF in the early 1950s, but the reaction chemistry was not fully developed to commercial realization [75]. Not until the mid-1980s, after the development of carbonylation processes to produce acetic acid and acetic anhydride, were co-carbonylation processes patented using homogeneous rhodium/iodine catalyst systems (Table 2) [2, 56]. The basic process concept is to manufacture acetic acid and acetic anhydride from methanol and carbon monoxide as the only raw materials and to generate methyl acetate within the process. Similiarly, the suitability of dimethyl ether as a raw material for the generation of the anhydride equivalent in addition to or as a substitute for methyl acetate was revealed by Hoechst [76]. To produce a small fraction of acetic acid besides acetic anhydride as the main product, the carbonylation of methyl acetate could be conducted with small amounts of water or methanol. This variant, first demonstrated by Hoechst [56], is practiced by Eastman Kodak [2]. 

The chemistry of hydrolysis and condensation of silicon alkoxides is now understood in considerable detail, as indicated in the chapter by Coltrain and Kelts (Eastman Kodak Co.). Extensive use of nuclear magnetic resonance has revealed the influence of factors such as pH on the kinetics of the competing reactions. With this information it is possible to rationalize the structures of the aggregates, as revealed by studies of small-angle scattering of X-rays and neutrons. This level of understanding opens the possibility for deliberate control of gel structure and properties. Nonsilicate systems have received less... 

Eastman Kodak has many laboratories worldwide, all with their own information departments, but the Information and Computer Technology Division in Rochester, and in particular the Application and Data Resources Unit, is responsible for the 555,000 compounds in the Chemical Registry System (under both MACCS and CAS Registry System software). There are also on file 17000 reactions under REACCS, 190,000 reports and 65,000 patents in a photographic patents index. The Chemical Information Centre holds 1,100,000 index cards, half of them in accession number order and half in molecular formula sequence. 

J.M. Smith was in charge of a variety of research projects. Studies of temperature gradients in continuous gas-solid catalytic reactors were supported by Petroleum Research Foundation (PRF), whereas from 1946 until 1950 the Research Cotrell Corporation supported his work on heat and mass transfer in fluidized gas-solid systems, and after 1950 his work on flow in fluidized systems. The Engineering Experimental Station was the sponsor of Smith s work on vapor-phase hydration of ethylene oxide, and in 1947 the Texas Company gave him a grant for the study of the radial temperature gradients of gas-solid catalytic converters. Finally, his studies on the reaction of sulfur vapor and methane were sponsored by the Eastman Kodak Company and the Pure Oil Company. 

---