Process for producing an alkenyl alkanoate from an olefin and a carboxylic acid

Claim 1

IN A PROCESS FOR PREPARING VINYL ACETATE BY PASSING A GASEOUS REACTANT MIXTURE COMPRISING MOLECULAR OXYGEN, ETHYLENE, AND ACETIC ACID THROUGH A REACTION ZONE MAINTAINED AT A PRESSURE BETWEEN ABOUT 5 AND ABOUT 15 ATMOSPHERES ABSOLUTE AND CONTAINING A CATALYST COMPRISING A GROUP VIII NOBLE METAL AND REACTING SAID ETHYLENE, OXYGEN AND ACETIC ACID IN THE PRESENCE OF SAID SOLID CATALYST TO FORM VINYL ACETATE, THE COMPOSITION OF SAID GASEOUS REACTION MIXTURE BEING CONTOLLED ON THE FUEL-RICH SIDE OF THE RANGE OF POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE MIXTURES OF OXYGEN WITH THE REMAINING COMPONENTS OF SAID REACTION MIXTURE THE DEGREE OF CONVERSION OF THE REACTANTS WITHIN SAID REACTION ZONE BEING LIMITED BY THE NECESSITY OF MAINTAINING THE CONCENTRATION OF OXYGEN THEREIN BELOW THE LOWER EXPLOSIVE LIMIT, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: RAISING THE LOWER EXPLOSIVE LIMIT OF OXYGEN IN SAID REACTANT GAS MIXTURE, AND SO FACILITATING SAFE OPERATION AT AN INCREASED OXYGEN CONCENTRATION, BY INCORPORATING FROM ABOUT 0.1 TO ABOUT 0.8 MOLES PER MOLE OF ETHYLENE OF A DILUENT GAS CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A LOWER ALKANE WHICH IS FREE OF SECONDARY AND TERTIARY HYDROGEN ATOMS INTO SAID REACTANT GAS MIXTURE PRIOR TO PASSING IT THROUGH SAID REACTION ZONE.