Process for the production of epoxide resins

The invention relates to the continuous production of epoxide resins of low, medium and high molecular weight, and also to their purification and to that of the waste water. No raw materials are required in addition to epichlorohydrin, 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane, alkali hydroxide and water. The raw materials are fed at a shear rate of 7.5-50x104 sec-1 (at a peripheral speed of the rotor of 15 to 50 m/sec and a distance of the rotor elements from the stator elements of 0.01 to 0.02 cm) continuously into a reactor and mixed in such a way that by the concentration of high kinetic energy in a very limited space the interfaces of the phases of the heterogeneous reaction mixture are increased to an extreme extent and the reagents are caused to react with one another within 5 sec. at the latest. The reaction proceeds very evenly in the reactor. By conversion of the kinetic energy and reaction heat of the chemical reaction the necessary reaction temperature is maintained for the reaction system within the reactor. The resins obtained and also their waste water are extracted in a pulsation unit in a counterflow, by means of water or organic solvents. This process enables epoxide resins of superior quality to be economically produced. The contamination of the waste water can be thus reduced to a minimum.