Production of higher alcohols

1. A reactive distillation method comprising:

introducing a feed stream to a reactive distillation column, wherein the feed stream comprises one or more alpha hydrogen alcohols;

contacting the feed stream with one or more catalysts in the reactive distillation column during a distillation, wherein the feed stream reacts in contact with the one or more catalysts to produce a reaction product comprising one or more higher alcohols, wherein the one or more higher alcohols are alcohols having a higher molecular weight than the corresponding one or more alpha hydrogen alcohols in the feed stream, and wherein the one or more higher alcohols comprise a C 4 -C 13 alcohol; and

removing the one or more higher alcohols during the distillation from the reactive distillation column as a bottoms stream.

2. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the feed stream further comprises water.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more alpha hydrogen alcohols comprise one or more of ethanol, propanol, or butanol.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more alpha hydrogen alcohols comprise only ethanol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more higher alcohols comprise at least one alcohol selected from the group consisting of: 1-butanol, 1-hexanol, 2-ethyl-1-butanol, 1-octanol, 2-ethyl-2-hexanol, heptanol, decanol, and dodecanols.

6. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a Guerbet reaction catalyst, a solid base multicomponent oxide catalyst, a solid acid/base bifunctional catalyst, a zeolite with alkali counterions, a magnesium oxide catalyst, an oxide powder catalyst, or any combination thereof.

7. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a dual function catalyst.

8. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a hydroxyapatite Guerbet reaction catalyst, a solid base Guerbet reaction catalyst, or a combination thereof.

9. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise CuO/SiO 2 , CuO/SiO 2 —Al 2 O 3 , CuO/ZnO, CuO/ZrO 2 , CuO/SiO 2 —ZrO 2 CuO/Al 2 O 3 , CuO/MgO, CuO/MgO/SiO 2 , CuO/MgO/Al 2 O 3 , CuO/ZnO/SiO 2 , CuO/ZrO 2 /SiO 2 , CuO/MgO/SiO 2 , CuO/CaO/SiO 2 , CuO/SrO/SiO 2 , CuO/BaO/SiO 2 , CuO/ZrO2/Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 and CuO/Na 2 O/SiO 2 , CuO/MgO/Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 CuO/CeO2/MgO/Al 2 O 3 , CuO/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 , CuO/Cr 2 O 3 /Al 2 O 3 , and CuO/ZrO 2 /Al 2 O 3 , or any combination thereof.

10. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise copper, and wherein the catalyst has a copper weight loading of between about 0.5% and about 80% of the catalyst.

11. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a catalyst component represented by the formula:

M/MgO/Al 2 O 3 ,

wherein M represents palladium, rhodium, platinum, silver, gold, nickel, or copper, or oxides thereof.

12. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a hydroxyapatite represented by the formula:

Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2

wherein the ratio of calcium to phosphorus (Ca:P) is between about 1.5 and about 1.8.

13. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise an apatite structure satisfying the formula:

M a (M′O b ) c X 2 ,

wherein M represents calcium, strontium, magnesium, barium, lead, cadmium, iron, cobalt, nickel, zinc, or hydrogen, wherein M′ represents phosphorus, vanadium, arsenic, carbon, or sulfur, wherein X represents a fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or a hydroxide, and

wherein a is about 10, b is about 3, c is about 6, and the ratio of a to c is between about 1.5 and about 1.8.

14. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a calcium phosphate, a calcium phosphate carbonate, a calcium pyrophosphate, a magnesium phosphate, a magnesium phosphate carbonate, a magnesium pyrophosphate, magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium phosphate hydrate (Mg 3 (PO 4 ) 2 .8H 2 O), calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, calcium fluoride, calcium silicate (wollastonite), calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), lithium phosphate, aluminum phosphate, titanium dioxide, fluorapatite (Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 F 2 ), tetracalcium phosphate (Ca 4 (PO 4 ) 2 O), hydrotalcite, talc, kaolin, sepiolite, or any combination thereof.

15. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise at least one catalytic component selected from the group consisting of: copper, copper oxide, barium, barium oxide, ruthenium, ruthenium oxide, rhodium, rhodium oxide, platinum, platinum oxide, palladium, palladium oxide, rhenium, rhenium oxide, silver, silver oxide, cadmium, cadmium oxide, zinc, zinc oxide, zirconium, zirconium oxide, gold, gold oxide, thallium, thallium oxide, magnesium, magnesium oxide, manganese, manganese oxide, aluminum, aluminum oxide, chromium, chromium oxide, nickel, nickel oxide, iron, iron oxide, molybdenum, molybdenum oxide, sodium, sodium oxide, sodium carbonate, strontium, strontium oxide, tin, tin oxide, and any mixture thereof.

16. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a multi-component catalyst, wherein the multi-component catalyst comprises a first catalyst component and second catalyst component, wherein the first catalyst component comprises a dehydrogenation catalyst component, and wherein the second catalyst component is configured to convert at least a portion of the one or more alpha hydrogen alcohols in the feed stream into the reaction product comprising the one or more higher alcohols and water.

17. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more catalysts comprise a support, wherein the support comprises at least one support material selected from the group consisting of: carbon, silica, silica-alumina, alumina, zirconia, titania, ceria, vanadia, nitride, boron nitride, heteropolyacids, hydroxyapatite, zinc oxide, chromia, a zeolite, a carbon nanotube, carbon fullerene, and any combination thereof.

18. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising:

removing a side stream from the reactive distillation column;

contacting the side stream with a side reactor catalyst, wherein the side stream reacts in the presence of the side reactor catalyst to produce at least one of the one or more higher alcohols; and

reintroducing the at least one of the one or more higher alcohols produced in the presence of the side reactor catalyst to the reactive distillation column.

19. The reactive distillation method of claim 18 , wherein the side stream comprises a vapor, and wherein contacting the side stream with the side reactor catalyst comprises contacting the vapor with the side reactor catalyst.

20. The reactive distillation method of claim 18 , wherein the side stream comprises a liquid, and wherein contacting the side stream with the side reactor catalyst comprises contacting the liquid with the side reactor catalyst.

21. The reactive distillation method of claim 18 , wherein the feed stream further reacts in contact with the one or more catalysts to produce a reaction product comprising ethyl acetate, wherein the method further comprising:

adjusting a flow rate of the side stream; and

increasing a production of the one or more higher alcohols relative to a production of the ethyl acetate in the bottoms stream.

22. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising:

removing a plurality of side streams from the reactive distillation column;

introducing each of the plurality of side streams into a corresponding plurality of side reactors, wherein each of the plurality of side reactors comprise at least one side reactor catalyst;

contacting each of the plurality of side streams with the at least one side reactor catalyst in the corresponding plurality of side reactors, wherein each of the plurality of side streams reacts in the presence of the one or more side reactor catalyst to produce a higher alcohol; and

reintroducing the higher alcohol produced in the presence of the side reactor catalyst from each of the plurality of side reactors to the reactive distillation column.

23. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising:

increasing a pressure of the reactive distillation column; and

increasing a molecular weight of the one or more higher alcohols in the bottoms product.

24. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising introducing a second feed stream comprising hydrogen to the reactive distillation column.

25. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising:

removing the bottoms stream from the reactive distillation column, wherein the one or more higher alcohols comprise one or more C 6 -C 13 alcohols, and butanol;

separating at least a portion of the one or more C 6 -C 13 alcohols from one or more C 2 -C 5 alcohols; and

recycling the one or more C 2 -C 5 alcohols to the reactive distillation column.

26. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the reactive distillation column comprises a continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR).

27. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising:

separating an inlet stream into an overhead stream and a bottoms stream in a separation unit, wherein the bottoms stream comprises water, the one or more higher alcohols, and an esters, wherein the overhead stream comprises the water and the ester, wherein the one or more higher alcohols comprise butanol, and wherein the second bottoms stream comprises butanol;

passing the overhead stream to a decanter;

generating, in the decanter, an aqueous phase comprising substantially all of the water and an organic phase comprising the esters;

removing the aqueous phase from the decanter as an aqueous stream;

removing the organic phase from the decanter as an organics stream;

separating the organics stream into a product stream and a recycle stream, wherein the product stream comprises the esters, and wherein the recycle stream comprises the water.

28. The reactive distillation method of claim 27 , wherein the esters comprises one or more of ethyl butyrate, ethyl acetate and butyl acetate.

29. The reactive distillation method of claim 27 , wherein the separation unit comprises a plurality of distillation columns.

30. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising:

separating the bottoms stream into an overhead strewn and a second bottoms stream in a separation unit, wherein the bottoms stream comprises water, of the one or more higher alcohols, and one or more esters, wherein the overhead stream comprises the water, the one or more esters, and a first portion of the one or more higher alcohols, and wherein the second bottoms stream comprises a second portion of the one or more higher alcohols;

separating the second bottoms stream into at least one product stream comprising a first higher alcohol of the first portion of the one or more higher alcohols;

passing the overhead stream to a decanter;

generating, in the decanter, an aqueous phase comprising substantially all of the water and an organic phase comprising the one or more esters and the second portion of the one of more higher alcohols;

removing the aqueous phase from the decanter as an aqueous stream;

removing the organic phase from the decanter as an organics stream; and

separating the organics stream into a first stream comprising the one or more esters and a second stream comprising the second portion of the one or more higher alcohols.

31. The reactive distillation method of claim 30 , wherein separating the second bottoms stream into at least one product stream comprises:

separating the second bottoms stream into a first product stream comprising butanol and a second product stream comprising the remainder of the first portion of the one or more higher alcohols.

32. The reactive distillation method of claim 30 , wherein separating the bottoms stream into at least one product stream further comprises:

separating the remainder of the first portion of the one or more higher alcohols into a third product stream comprising hexanol.

33. The reactive distillation method of claim 30 , wherein separating the organics stream into a first stream comprising the one or more esters and a second stream comprising the second portion of the one or more higher alcohols comprises:

separating the organics stream into a second overhead stream comprising the one or more esters and water and a third bottoms stream comprising the second portion of the one or more higher alcohols.

34. The reactive distillation method of claim 33 , wherein separating the organics stream into a first stream comprising the one or more esters and a second stream comprising the second portion of the one or more higher alcohols further comprises:

passing the second overhead stream to a second decanter;

generating, in the second decanter, a second aqueous phase comprising substantially all of the water in the organics stream and a second organic phase comprising the esters;

removing the second aqueous phase from the second decanter as a second aqueous stream;

removing the second organic phase from the second decanter as a second organics stream;

separating the second organics stream into an esters product stream comprising the one or more esters.

35. The reactive distillation method of claim 33 , wherein separating the organics stream into a first stream comprising the one or more esters and a second stream comprising the second portion of the one or more higher alcohols further comprises;

separating the third bottoms stream into a third overhead stream and a fourth bottoms stream, wherein the third overhead stream comprises at least one higher alcohol of the second portion of the one or more higher alcohols.

36. The reactive distillation method of claim 35 , wherein separating the third bottoms stream into a third overhead stream and a fourth bottoms stream occurs at a pressure greater than about 3 atmospheres.

37. The reactive distillation method of claim 30 , wherein separating the organics stream into the first stream comprising the one or more esters and the second stream comprising the second portion of the one or more higher alcohols occurs in a distillation system, wherein the distillation system comprises a distillation column and at least one rectifier or stripper in fluid communication with the distillation column.

38. A reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the bottoms stream comprises water, the one or more higher alcohols, and one or more butyl esters comprising butyl acetate, wherein the method further comprises:

distilling the bottoms stream to produce an overhead stream and a second bottoms stream, wherein the overhead stream comprises at least a portion of the water and the butyl acetate, and wherein the bottoms stream comprises a majority of the one or more higher alcohols;

condensing the overhead stream; and

decanting an aqueous phase stream from an organic phase stream, wherein the aqueous phase stream comprises a majority of the water in the overhead stream, and wherein the organic phase stream comprises a majority of the butyl acetate in the overhead stream.

39. The reactive distillation method of claim 18 , wherein the side reactor catalyst is disposed within one or more side reactors, and wherein the amount of side reactor catalyst in the one or more side reactors is greater than an amount of the one or more catalysts in the reactive distillation column.

40. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , further comprising:

removing the bottoms stream from the reactive distillation column, wherein the one or more higher alcohols comprise one or more C 6 -C 13 alcohols;

separating at least a portion of the one or more C 6 -C 13 alcohols from a remaining portion of the bottoms stream; and

recycling at least a portion of the remaining portion of the bottoms stream to the reactive distillation column.

41. The reactive distillation method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more alpha hydrogen alcohols comprise ethanol, and wherein the one or more higher alcohols comprise butanol.