To provide a process for producing a diaryl carbonate useful as a polymerization raw material free from substances having poisoning action on the polymerization catalyst in the production of an aromatic polycarbonate by a melt transesterification process while suppressing the decomposition loss of the carbonate.
An aromatic monohydroxy compound is reacted with phosgene or a dialkyl carbonate, the obtained reaction mixture containing a diaryl carbonate is brought into contact with hot water and separated into a water phase and an organic phase and the diaryl carbonate is recovered from the organic phase. In the above process for the production of diaryl carbonate, not less than 80 (kgf.m/L) of load is applied as the agitation power (P/q) per unit flow volume in the hot water treating vessel defined by the following formula (1) P/q=NP$⊗ρ.n3.d5/q (kgf.m/L) (Np is agitation power constant; ρ is specific gravity of the hot-water treating liquid (kg/m3); (n) is the rotational speed of the agitator (rps); (d) is the diameter (m) of the agitation blade; and (q) is the flow volume of the hot-water treating liquid (L/sec)).
HISAMA SEIJI
EGASHIRA TORU
URASHIMA HIDETOSHI
