Patent 7002048 was granted and assigned to Sunoco on February, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method is provided for the efficient, low cost removal of acetol from a phenol stream. The method results in removal of substantially all of the acetol from the phenol stream without the formation of substantial amounts of additional methylbenzofuran. The method also avoids the use of expensive reagents and capital intensive distillation equipment.