Process for manufacturing liquid epoxy resins

A process for the production of liquid epoxy resins, including: contacting a polyhydric phenol and an epihalohydrin in the presence of an ionic catalyst to form a halohydrin intermediate reaction product; concurrently: reacting a portion of the halohydrin intermediate reaction product with an alkali hydroxide to form a solid salt suspended in a liquid mixture including a dehydrohalogenated product and unreacted halohydrin intermediate, wherein the alkali hydroxide is used at less than a stoichiometric amount; and removing water and epihalohydrin as a vapor from the reacting mixture; separating the solid salt from the liquid mixture; reacting at least a portion of the unreacted halohydrin intermediate with an alkali hydroxide in the presence of water to form an organic mixture including an epoxy resin and unreacted epihalohydrin and an aqueous solution including a salt; separating the aqueous mixture from the organic mixture; and separating the unreacted epihalohydrin from the liquid epoxy resin.