Purification of hydrogen peroxide

Claim 1

IN THE RECOVERY AND PURIFICATION OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE EXISTING IN A MIXTURE OF THE CHARACTER HEREINAFTER DEFINED, SAID MIXTURE COMPRISING IN PREDOMINANT AMOUNT WATER-SOLUBLE, LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT ALCOHOL AND THE CORRESPONDING LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT CARBONYLIC COMPOUND, EACH DISTILLING IN THE PRESENCE OF WATER AT A TEMPERATURE LOWER THAN WATER ALONE, AND WATER, AND IN MINOR AMOUNT HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND OXYGENATED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS COMPRISING UNSTABLE ORGANIC PEROXYGEN COMPOUNDS, THE METHOD WHICH COMPRISES IN AN INITIAL STEP DEGRADING BY HEAT TREATMENT A PORTION OF THE ORGANIC PEROXYGEN COMPOUNDS TO RELATIVELY STABLE ORGANIC PRODUCTS HAVING VOLATILITIES GREATER THAN THAT OF WATER AND DISTILLING FROM THE HEAT-TREATED MIXTURE IN THE PRESENCE OF WATER THE ALCOHOL AND CORRESPONDING CARBONYLIC COMPOUND TOGETHER WITH WATER AND AT LEAST A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF SAID RELATIVELY STABLE ORGANIC PRODUCTS, IN A SUBSEQUENT STEP DEGRADING BY FURTHER HEAT TREATMENT IN THE PRESENCE OF ADDED STEAM A FURTHER PORTION OF THE ORGANIC PEROXYGEN IMPURITIES REMAINING TO ADDITIONAL RELATIVELY STABLE ORGANIC PRODUCTS, SAID ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS HAVING VOLATILITIES IN THE PRESENCE OF WATER GREATER THAN THAT OF THE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY THEREWITH VOLATILIZING SAID ADDITIONAL ORGANIC PRODUCTS TOGETHER WITH WATER FROM THE MIXTURE UNDERGOING HEAT-TREATMENT, AND THEREAFTER EVAPORATING HYDROGEN PEROXIDE TOGETHER WITH WATER AT A PRESSURE BELOW 150 MM. MERCURY ABSOLUTE AND WITH A RESIDENCE TIME FOR THE LIQUID FEED IN THE EVAPORATOR OF NOT MORE THAN ABOUT 20 MINUTES SO AS TO SEPARATE OVERHEAD THE EVAPORATED HYDROGEN PEROXIDE FORM THE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE SOLUTION CONTAINING THE SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF RELATIVELY STABLE BUT RELATIVELY NON-VOLATILE ORGANIC IMPURITIES REMAINING AFTER SAID STEP OF DEGRADING IMPURITIES IN THE PRESENCE OF ADDED STEAM UNDER CONDITIONS NON-CONDUCTIVE TO DEGRADATION OF THE ORGANIC IMPURITIES REMAINING, AND CONDENSING THE EVAPORATED HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND WATER TO THE LIQUID STATE.