Abstract: It is an object of the present invention, in the case of an apparatus in which a liquid containing material having a lower boiling point than that of the liquid is made to flow down along an external surface of a guide, during which time the lower boiling point material is evaporated, to provide a specific apparatus that can be operated stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale such that not less than 1 ton/hr of the liquid is subjected to the evaporation, and furthermore to provide a specific industrial evaporation apparatus in which there are no problems due to degeneration caused by some of the liquid residing in the apparatus for a prolonged period of time.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific process that enables a high-purity diaryl carbonate that can be used as a raw material of a high-quality and high-performance polycarbonate to be produced stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton/hr using as a starting material a reaction mixture containing an alkyl aryl carbonate obtained through a transesterification reaction between a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific industrial separation process that enables an alcohol to be separated out efficiently and stably for a prolonged period of time from a large amount of a low boiling point reaction mixture containing a by-produced alcohol when mass-producing aromatic carbonates on an industrial scale by subjecting a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound to transesterification reaction in a reactive distillation column in which a catalyst is present. Although there have been various proposals regarding processes for the production of aromatic carbonates by means of a reactive distillation method, these have all been on a small scale and short operating time laboratory level, and there have been no disclosures whatsoever on a specific process or apparatus enabling mass production on an industrial scale to be carried out stably for a prolonged period of time.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific industrial separation process that enables a by-produced alcohol to be separated out efficiently and stably for a prolonged period of time from a large amount (not less than 1 ton/hr) of a low boiling point reaction mixture having a specified composition containing the by-produced alcohol when mass-producing aromatic carbonates on an industrial scale by subjecting a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound to transesterification reaction in a reactive distillation column in which a catalyst is present. Although there have been various proposals regarding processes for the production of aromatic carbonates by means of a reactive distillation method, these have all been on a small scale and short operating time laboratory level, and there have been no disclosures whatsoever on a specific process or apparatus enabling mass production on an industrial scale to be carried out stably for a prolonged period of time.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific process that enables a high-purity diphenyl carbonate that can be used as a raw material of a high-quality and high-performance polycarbonate to be produced stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton/hr from a reaction mixture containing a catalyst and reaction by-products that has been obtained through transesterification reaction and the like using a dialkyl carbonate and a phenol as a starting material.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention, in the case of an apparatus in which a liquid containing material having a lower boiling point than that of the liquid is made to flow down along external surfaces of guides, during which time the low boiling point material is evaporated, to provide a specific apparatus that can be operated stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale such that not less than 1 ton/hr of the liquid is produced through the evaporation, and furthermore to provide a specific industrial evaporation apparatus in which there are no problems due to degeneration caused by some of the liquid residing in the apparatus for a prolonged period of time.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention, in the case of an apparatus in which a liquid containing material having a lower boiling point than that of the liquid is made to flow down along an external surface of a guide, during which time the lower boiling point material is evaporated, to provide a specific apparatus that can be operated stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale such that not less than 1 ton/hr of the liquid is subjected to the evaporation, and furthermore to provide a specific industrial evaporation apparatus in which there are no problems due to degeneration caused by some of the liquid residing in the apparatus for a prolonged period of time.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific industrially useful process that enables a high-purity diaryl carbonate having low contents of intermediate boiling point and high boiling point impurities as required for producing a high-quality and high-performance polycarbonate to be produced stably for a prolonged period of time using as a starting material a reaction mixture containing an alkyl aryl carbonate obtained through a transesterification reaction between a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound. There have been various proposals regarding processes for the production of reaction mixtures containing aromatic carbonates by means of a reactive distillation method.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide, for the case of continuously producing aromatic carbonates containing a diaryl carbonate as a main product by taking an alkyl aryl carbonate as a starting material, which is obtainable through a transesterification reaction between a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound, using a continuous multi-stage distillation column in which a catalyst is present, and continuously feeding the starting material into the continuous multi-stage distillation column, a specific process that enables the diaryl carbonate to be produced with high selectivity and high productivity stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton per hour.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific process that enables a high-purity diaryl carbonate that can be used as a raw material of a high-quality and high-performance polycarbonate to be produced stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton/hr using as a starting material a reaction mixture containing an alkyl aryl carbonate obtained through a transesterification reaction between a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific process that enables a high-purity diphenyl carbonate that can be used as a raw material of a high-quality and high-performance polycarbonate to be produced stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton/hr from a reaction mixture containing a catalyst and reaction by-products that has been obtained through transesterification reaction and the like using a dialkyl carbonate and a phenol as a starting material.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific process that enables an aromatic carbonate to be produced with high selectivity and high productivity stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of no less than 1 ton per hour using a continuous multi-stage distillation column from a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound. Although there have been many proposals regarding the process of producing the aromatic carbonate using a reactive distillation method, these have all been on a small scale and a short operating time laboratory level, According to the present invention, there is provided a specified continuous multi-stage distillation column, and there is also provided a specific process that enables the aromatic carbonate to be produced with high selectivity and high productivity stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton per hour from the dialkyl carbonate and the aromatic monohydroxy compound.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific process that enables aromatic carbonates containing diaryl carbonate as a main product to be produced with high selectivity and high productivity stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton per hour from a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound using two continuous multi-stage distillation columns. Although there have been various proposals regarding processes for the production of aromatic carbonates by means of a reactive distillation method, these have all been on a small scale and short operating time laboratory level, and there have been no disclosures whatsoever on a specific process or apparatus enabling mass production on an industrial scale.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide, for the case of continuously producing aromatic carbonates containing a diaryl carbonate as a main product by taking an alkyl aryl carbonate containing specific amounts of a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound as a starting material, in which said alkyl aryl carbonate is obtainable through a transesterification reaction between a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound, using a continuous multi-stage distillation column in which a catalyst is present, and continuously feeding the starting material into the continuous multi-stage distillation column, a specific process that enables the diaryl carbonate to be produced with high selectivity and high productivity stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton per hour.

Abstract: It is a task of the present invention to provide a method for producing a high quality, high performance aromatic polycarbonate (which is colorless and has excellent mechanical properties) from a molten aromatic polycarbonate prepolymer obtained by reacting an aromatic dihydroxy compound with a diaryl carbonate, wherein the polycarbonate can be stably produced on a commercial scale at 1 to 50 t/hr for a long time. In the present invention, this task has been accomplished by a method for producing an aromatic polycarbonate by the melt transesterification process, in which the prepolymer is polymerized by a guide-wetting fall polymerizer device having a specific structure, whereby a high quality, high performance aromatic polycarbonate as mentioned above can be stably produced on a commercial scale at 1 to 50 t/hr for a long time (more than several thousand hours, e.g., more than 5,000 hours) without fluctuation of the molecular weight thereof.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific process that enables aromatic carbonates to be produced with high selectivity and high productivity stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 1 ton per hour from a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound using two continuous multi-stage distillation columns. Although there have been various proposals regarding processes for the production of aromatic carbonates by means of a reactive distillation method, these have all been on a small scale and short operating time laboratory level, and there have been no disclosures whatsoever on a specific process or apparatus enabling mass production on an industrial scale.

Abstract: It is a task of the present invention to provide a polymerizer device and a polymerizer system which enable the production, by melt transesterification, of a high quality, high performance aromatic polycarbonate (which is colorless and has excellent mechanical properties) from a molten aromatic polycarbonate prepolymer obtained by reacting an aromatic dihydroxy compound with a diaryl carbonate, wherein the polycarbonate can be stably produced on a commercial scale at 1 to 50 t/hr for a long time. In the present invention, this task has been accomplished by a guide-wetting fall polymerizer device (in which a molten prepolymer is allowed to fall along and in contact with a guide, thereby effecting polymerization of the prepolymer) having a specific structure and a polymerizer system comprising such devices.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for producing an aromatic polycarbonate, comprising: feeding, into a polymerizer apparatus, at least one polymerizable material selected from the group consisting of a molten monomer mixture of an aromatic dihydroxy compound and a diaryl carbonate, and a molten prepolymer obtained by a process comprising reacting an aromatic dihydroxy compound with a diaryl carbonate, the polymerizer apparatus including a guide-wetting fall polymerization reaction zone which has at least one guide securely held therein and extending downwardly therethrough, and allowing the polymerizable material to fall along and in contact with the at least one guide through the guide-wetting fall polymerization reaction zone, to effect a guide-wetting fall polymerization of the polymerizable material, thereby obtaining a polymer, wherein the guide is a perforated wall-surface guide. Also disclosed is a polymerizer apparatus for practicing the above-mentioned method.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for producing an aromatic polycarbonate, which comprises treating a molten aromatic polycarbonate prepolymer (obtained by reacting an aromatic dihydroxy compound with a diaryl carbonate) with an inert gas under a predetermined pressure to thereby cause the molten prepolymer to absorb the inert gas, and subjecting the resultant molten prepolymer having the inert gas absorbed therein to polymerization, under a pressure lower than the above-mentioned predetermined pressure employed for the inert gas absorption, to thereby polymerize the prepolymer to a predetermined degree of polymerization. By the method of the present invention, a high quality aromatic polycarbonate which is colorless and has excellent mechanical properties can be produced at high polymerization rate even without using a large amount of an inert gas.

Abstract: Disclosed is a process for producing an aromatic carbonate which comprises transesterifying, in the presence of a metal-containing catalyst, a starting material selected from the group consisting of a dialkyl carbonate, an alkyl aryl carbonate and a mixture thereof with a reactant selected from the group consisting of an aromatic monohydroxy compound, an alkyl aryl carbonate and a mixture thereof, wherein the transesterification is conducted while maintaining a weight ratio (WR) of at least one aromatic group-containing substance selected from the group consisting of a specific aromatic polyhydroxy compound and a residue thereof to the metal of the metal-containing catalyst at 2.0 or less, wherein the weight ratio (WR) is measured with respect to a catalyst-containing liquid-phase mixture in a system for the transesterification, and wherein the aromatic group-containing substance originates from the starting material, the reactant and/or a by-product of the transesterification.