Bulk Chemical: Catalytic Oxidation Of Isopropyl Alcohol (Research Paper Sample)

Production of Acetone
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Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Product description. PAGEREF _Toc501640075 \h 3Production methods PAGEREF _Toc501640076 \h 3Uses of acetone PAGEREF _Toc501640077 \h 3Production process PAGEREF _Toc501640078 \h 4Equipment PAGEREF _Toc501640079 \h 4 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc501640080" By-products PAGEREF _Toc501640080 \h 7
Product description.
The IUPAC name for acetone is Propan-2-one. It is an organic compound with the formula ( CH3 )2 CO and it is also the simplest Ketone. Acetone is a colorless flammable liquid with an aromatic odor. It is miscible with many organic solvents and it completely miscible with water.
Production methods
Acetone is produced through several ways which are:
1 Decomposition of isopropyl alcohol with water being use as the catalyst
2 Catalytic oxidation of Isopropyl Alcohol.
3 Direct oxidation of hydrocarbons.
4 The Cumene hydro peroxide process for phenol and acetone.
5 Diisopropylbenzene process for acetone and hydroquinone.
Uses of acetone
Acetone is mainly used for the production of other chemicals with about 12% of it being used as a solvent. Acetone is used in the production of bisphenol A (BPA) and methyl methacrylate. It uses range from pharmaceutical application, cleaning fluids to adhesives and surface coatings.
Acetone is used to manufacture commercial and consumer products such as:
1 Inks and coatings.
2 Clean-up and resin thinners operations.
3 Plates casting and photographic films.
4 Furniture finishes and lacquers for automobiles.
5 Nail polish removers.
6 Manufacture of degumming and degreasing agents.
7 Varnish, paint and lacquer strippers (Hudson, 2015; Coulson et al., 1999b).
Production process
This report will discuss the production of acetone through decomposition of isopropyl alcohol with water being use as the catalyst. This is because water does not react with isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol and water enter the reaction at a temperature of 298 K and at a pressure of 325kPa (1 bar). The reaction is endothermic under these conditions. Hot water at a temperature of 700 K is fed to the plug flow reactor (PFR) from a fired heater. The products for decomposition of isopropyl alcohol with water are hydrogen (H2), and acetone (C3 H6 O). (Coulson et al., 1999).
The reaction is:
C_3 H_8 O□(↔┴(H_2 O) )C3H6O+H20
Equipment
Reactor (R)
The preferred reactor is the plug flow reactor. This is because has an efficient heat transfer, fast rections, high temperature, a high conversion per unit volume and it has a continuous production. The PFR has an operation pressure of 800 kPa (8 bar), and a temperature of 499 K (225.85°C). The PFR has 53 tubes (Levenspiel, 1999).
Heat Exchanger 1 (HE-1)
Products from the reactor are fed to the first heat exchanger. This product has to be cooled since it leaves the reactor at a temperature of 450 K. Temperatures have to be reduced since the next unit is the distillation column. If temperatures are not reduced all components would evaporate from the distillation column. The steam leaves (HE-1) at a temperature of 278 K. Water is used as the cooling media (Richardson et al., 2002).
Distillation Column 1 (D-1)
The stream from the HE-1 enters the distillation column at a temperature of 278K. Here, hydrogen evaporates since the mixture has a higher boiling point than hydrogen (Richardson et al., 2002).
Condenser 1 (C-1)
Hydrogen, water and a small quantity of acetone are released in vapor phase. (C-1) is used to condense these materials and they are returned to the distillation column in liquid phase. The hydrogen gas leaves the condenser for the Refrigeration Unit 1 (R-1) together with 5 percent of the acetone.
Boiler 1 (B-1)
The boiler is used to evaporate hydrogen that had not evaporated during the first distillation strep.
Refrigeration Unit 1 (R-1)
A mixture of hydrogen and 5 percent acetone enters the refrigeration unit from the condenser. This mixture has to liquidize so that hydrogen and acetone can separate. The separated acetone is re-mixed with components from boiler
(B-1) 1.
Heat Exchanger 2 (HE-2)
Stream 10 is heated using a shell an...