Manufacturing of Phthalic Anhydride

M AN U FACTU RIN G O F
PH TH ALIC AN H YD RID E
PRESENTED BY : 1. MISTRY ANKIT
(130280105026)
2. NAKUM ANIL (130280105027)
3. PAGHDAL DIVYESH (130280105029)
IN TRO D U CTIO N
Phthalic Anhydride is one of the most important

intermediate in the plastic industries.
Phthalic anhydrideis theorganic compoundwith the
formula C6H4(CO)2O.
It is theanhydride ofphthalic acid.
This colourless solid is an important industrial chemical,
especially for the large-scale production
ofplasticizersfor plastics.
PRO D U CTIO N PRO CESS
PAN is produced by the catalytic oxidation of o-xylene or

naphthalene.
Since naphthalene is a higher-priced feedstock and has
a lower feed utilization (about 1.0 lb PAN/lb o-xylene
versus 0.97 lb PAN/lb naphthalene), future production
growth is predicted to utilize o-xylene.
The processes for producing PAN by o-xylene or
naphthalene are the same except for reactors, catalyst
handling, and recovery facilities required for fluid bed
reactors.
REACTIONS:
Side reaction products: Maleic anhydride, Complete

combustion products: CO2and water.
Catalyst: Vanadium pentoxide.

Operating conditions: 340 - 385C.
Reaction is highly exothermic.
In PAN production using o-xylene as the basic feedstock,

filtered air is preheated, compressed, and mixed with
vaporized o-xylene and fed into the fixed-bed tubular
reactors.
The reactors contain the catalyst, vanadium pentoxide,
and are operated at 650 to 725F (340 to 385C).
Small amounts of sulfur dioxide are added to the reactor
feed to maintain catalyst activity.
Exothermic heat is removed by a molten salt bath
circulated around the reactor tubes and transferred to a
steam generation system.
Naphthalene-based feedstock is made up of vaporized

naphthalene and compressed air.
It is transferred to the fluidized bed reactor and oxidized
in the presence of a catalyst, vanadium pentoxide, at
650 to 725F (340 to 385C).
Cooling tubes located in the catalyst bed remove the
exothermic heat, which is used to produce high-pressure
steam.
The reactor effluent consists of PAN vapors, entrained
catalyst, and various byproducts and non reactant gas.
The catalyst is removed by filtering and returned to the
The reactor effluent containing crude PAN plus products

from side reactions and excess oxygen passes to a
series of switch condensers where the crude PAN cools
and crystallizes.
The condensers are alternately cooled and then heated,
allowing PAN crystals to form and then melt from the
condenser tube fins.
The crude liquid is transferred to a pretreatment section
in which phthalic acid is dehydrated to anhydride
Water, maleic anhydride, and benzoic acid are partially
evaporated.
The liquid then goes to a vacuum distillation section

where pure PAN (99.8 wt. percent pure) is recovered.
The product can be stored and shipped either as a liquid
or a solid (in which case it is dried, flaked, and packaged
in multi-wall paper bags).
Tanks for holding liquid PAN are kept at 300F (150C)
and blanketed with dry nitrogen to prevent the entry of
oxygen (fire) or water vapor (hydrolysis to phthalic
acid).
Maleic anhydride is currently the only byproduct being
recovered.
U SES
Phthalic anhydride is used as a versatile intermediate in

organic chemical reactions, mainly because it is
bifunctional and is cheaply available. It may also be
used in the manufacture of phathalate plasticizers like
DOP, DEP etc.
EN G IN EER IN G A S P EC TS
1. Advantages of o-xylene over napthalene

An advantage of using o-xylene compared to naphthalene is that
o-xylene gives more yield of phthalic anhydride than naphthalene
becausetwo carbon atoms of naphthalene are consumed in the
formation of CO2.
2. Effect of temperature and space velocity

Vapour-phase oxidation of o-xylene was carried out by two
processes, low temperature/low space velocity and high
temperature/high space velocity. Development in catalyst resulted
in higher allowable space velocities for the low temperature case
with affecting the high yield. The low temperature process runs
below temperature of 4000C is predominant.
EN G IN EER IN G A S P EC TS
3. Design of reactor
Rectors used in the process are designed to withstand against an
explosion. This reactor has tube having inside diameter of 2.5cm. The
heat of oxidation reaction is removed by a circulating molten salt.
This salt is generally mixture of nitrate and nitrite of sodium and
potassium.
4. Catalyst
The catalyst combines two essential ingredients found in earlier
catalyst, V2O5 and TiO2, which were coated on an inert, nonporous
carrier in a layer 0.02 2.0mm thick. Instead of spherical support
ring shaped support is used to provide long life to catalyst. Half
rings supports provide more catalyst to load as less pressure
though the reactor gives high yield.
TH aN K YoU

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M AN U FACTU RIN G O F

Phthalic Anhydride is one of the most important

PAN is produced by the catalytic oxidation of o-xylene or

Side reaction products: Maleic anhydride, Complete

Catalyst: Vanadium pentoxide.

In PAN production using o-xylene as the basic feedstock,

Naphthalene-based feedstock is made up of vaporized

The reactor effluent containing crude PAN plus products

The liquid then goes to a vacuum distillation section

Phthalic anhydride is used as a versatile intermediate in

1. Advantages of o-xylene over napthalene

2. Effect of temperature and space velocity

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