Plant and process for producing fatty alcohol

1. A process for the continuous production of a fatty alcohol from a fatty acid ester by catalytic trickle-bed hydrogenation, the process comprising the steps of:

a) mixing the fatty acid ester with hydrogen to produce an educt mixture, wherein the hydrogen comprises fresh hydrogen and recirculated hydrogen, wherein the educt mixture is at a pressure in the range from 50 to 250 bar;

b) heating the educt mixture to a temperature in the range from 150 to 250° C.;

c) passing the educt mixture through a first shaft reactor and then through a second shaft reactor, wherein each of the first shaft reactor and the second shaft reactor contain at least one catalyst fixed bed designed as trickle bed, wherein the educt mixture is converted, within a traveling reaction zone, into a liquid product mixture which contains fatty alcohol, hydrogen and, depending on the fatty acid ester used, also further alcohols wherein each catalyst fixed bed has a bed length;

d) measuring a temperature profile along the bed length of each catalyst fixed bed;

e) determining the location of the traveling reaction zone within the catalyst fixed beds by the measured temperature profile from step d);

f) cooling the liquid product mixture;

g) separating the hydrogen from the liquid product mixture to form a hydrogen stream and a liquid product stream containing fatty alcohol;

h) using at least a portion of the hydrogen stream to provide the recirculated hydrogen of step a); and

i) discharging the liquid product stream containing fatty alcohol from the process for the further treatment;

wherein, upon a determination that the traveling reaction zone has entered the catalyst fixed bed of the second shaft reactor and has progressed to such an extent that an inactive zone, which is of sufficient length to provide a protection zone for trapping catalyst poisons, has formed upstream the traveling reaction zone in the catalyst fixed bed of the second shaft reactor, the process further comprises the steps of:

i. switching the flow of the educt mixture to first flow into the second shaft reactor without first flowing through the first shaft reactor, thereby taking the first shaft reactor out of operation;

ii. replacing the catalyst fixed bed of the first shaft reactor with fresh catalyst; and

iii. fluidly connecting the first shaft reactor downstream of the second shaft reactor, thereby placing the first shaft reactor back in operation.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the fatty acid ester is a wax ester, and before process step b) the fatty acid ester is passed through a depressurizing device, thereby reducing the content of free fatty acids and other compounds of higher volatility.

3. The process according to claim 2 , wherein the depressurizing device is operated at pressures between 1 and 1000 mbar.

4. The process according to claim 2 , wherein the depressurizing device is operated at pressures between 10 and 700 mbar.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein step b) is at a pressure between 75 to 100 bar.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the mixture is heated to a temperature in step c) between 180 to 250° C.