Process for removing acetone from a stream comprising acetone, methyl acetate and methyl iodide

Process for removing acetone from a stream including acetone (A), methyl acetate (MA) and methyl iodide (MI), by (a) introducing the stream into a first distillation zone (FDZ); (b) introducing acetic acid (AA) into the FDZ, by adding AA to the stream or by introducing AA to the FDZ at or above the introduction point of the stream, or a combination thereof; (c) removing from the FDZ an overhead stream including MI and a bottoms stream containing A, MA, AA, and a reduced amount of MI; (d) introducing the bottoms stream into a second distillation zone (SDZ); (e) removing from the SDZ an overhead stream containing MA and MI and a bottoms stream containing A, MA and AA; (f) introducing the bottoms stream from (e) into a third distillation zone (TDZ); removing from the TDZ an overhead stream containing MA and A and a bottoms stream containing MA and AA.