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Abstract

A liquid phase catalytic hydrogenation process is described in which an organic feedstock, such as an aldehyde containing from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms, is contracted with hydrogen in the presence of a solid hydrogenation catalyst under hydrogenation conditions to produce a hydrogenation product, such as the corresponding alcohol containing from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms, which process comprises passing a feed solution of the organic feedstock in an inert diluent therefor downwardly in co-current with a hydrogen-containing gas through a hydrogenation zone containing a bed of a particulate hydrogenation catalyst whose particles substantially all lie in the range of from about 1.5 mm to about 5 mm, maintaining the bed of catalyst particles under temperature and pressure conditions conducive to hydrogenation, recovering from a bottom part of the bed a liquid phase containing the hydrogenation product, controlling the rate of supply of the feed solution to the bed so as to maintain a superficial liquid velocity of the liquid down the bed in the range of from about 1.5 cm/sec to about 5 cm/sec, and controlling the rate of supply of the hydrogen-containing gas to the bed so as to maintain at the top surface of the bed of catalyst particles a flow of hydrogen-containing gas containing from 1.00 to about 1.15 times the stoichiometric quantity of hydrogen theoretically necessary to convert the organic feedstock completely to the hydrogenation product.

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