Davy Process Technology

An important future use for maleic anhydride is beUeved to be the production of products in the 1,4-butanediol—y-butyrolactone—tetrahydrofuran family. Davy Process Technology has commercialized a process (93) for producing 1,4-butanediol from maleic anhydride. This technology can be used to produce the product mix of the three molecules as needed by the producer. Another significant effort in this area is the tetrahydrofuran plant under constmction in Spain by Du Pont in which butane is oxidized and recovered as maleic acid and the maleic acid is then reduced to tetrahydrofuran (109). 

The search for catalyst systems which could effect the 0x0 reaction under milder conditions and produce higher yields of the desired aldehyde resulted in processes utilizing rhodium. Oxo capacity built since the mid-1970s, both in the United States and elsewhere, has largely employed tertiary phosphine-modified rhodium catalysts. For example, over 50% of the world s butyraldehyde (qv) is produced by the LP Oxo process, technology Hcensed by Union Carbide Corporation and Davy Process Technology. 

Ligand-Modified Rhodium Process. The triphenylphosphine-modified rhodium oxo process, termed the LP Oxo process, is the industry standard for the hydroformylation of ethylene and propylene as of this writing (ca 1995). It employs a triphenylphosphine [603-35-0] (TPP) (1) modified rhodium catalyst. The process operates at low (0.7—3 MPa (100—450 psi)) pressures and low (80—120°C) temperatures. Suitable sources of rhodium are the alkanoate, 2,4-pentanedionate, or nitrate. A low (60—80 kPa (8.7—11.6 psi)) CO partial pressure and high (10—12%) TPP concentration are critical to obtaining a high (eg, 10 1) normal-to-branched aldehyde ratio. The process, first commercialized in 1976 by Union Carbide Corporation in Ponce, Puerto Rico, has been ficensed worldwide by Union Carbide Corporation and Davy Process Technology. 

Despite the very attractive properties of the rhodium-based system, no commercial plants used it because the low stability of the catalyst meant that the catalyst separation problem prevented commercialisation. Very recently, this situation has changed with the introduction of rhodium-based plant by Sasol in South Africa which uses technology developed by Kvaemer Process Technology (now Davy Process Technology). This batch continuous plant produces medium-long chain aldehydes and the separation is carriedoutbylow pressure distillation [16-18]... 

S. P. Crabtree and R. Wild, WO 02/096555 Al, Publication Date 05. 12. 2002, assigned to Davy Process Technology Limited... 

Stirred tank reactors are mostly used because they provide a rapid means of obtaining a uniform composition and temperature throughout the reaction mixture they also offer the flexibility required for the small-scale production of many different molecules. Companies such as Biazzi, Davy Process Technology (Buss loop technology), DeDietrich and others provide technology adapted to hydrogenations (i.e., pressures up to 100 bar and temperatures up to 200 °C) [45-47]. Here, some scale-up issues related to stirred tank reactors are described. 

Dimethylformamide, Methylamine and Derivatives Process Technologies, Davy Process Technology, www.davyprotech.com, 2003. 

Many plants have been designed and operated on a batch system with various stirring systems and recirculation loops since the early 1950s but the latest thinking for bulk production is probably the plants that Davy Process Technology has developed for alkoxylation. At least 10 plants of its design have been put into beneficial operation since they were first introduced in 1990 and are based on the Buss Loop Reactor technology. 

Licensor Davy Process Technology Ltd., UK, and Union Carbide Corp. (a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Co., US). 

Licensor One Synergy, a consortium of Davy Process Technology, Johnson Matthey Catalysts, and Aker Kvaerner. 

Alpha (2) A process for making methyl methacrylate, developed by Ineos Acrylics (now Lucite International) since 1990. Ethylene is carbonylated and methylated to produce methyl propionate, which is reacted with formaldehyde to produce methyl methacrylate. The first stage is homogeneously catalyzed by a palladium phosphine complex. The second stage is operated in the gas phase over a proprietary basic heterogeneous catalyst. Piloted by Davy Process Technology in 2002. The first commercial plant is to be built in Singapore, completion expected in early 2008. The second will be built in Texas by Mitsubishi Rayon, for completion in late 2009. 

EA [Ethyl Acetate] A one-step process for converting ethanol to ethyl acetate. Acetaldehyde is an intermediate, and the catalyst is proprietary. Developed by Davy Process Technology and Sasol from 2000, following initial work by Davy in 1983. The first commercial plant was built by Sasol in Secunda, South Africa, in 2001. The process won the Kirkpatrick Honor Award for Chemical Engineering Achievement in 2003. 

Kvaerner The engineering company Kvaemer ASA became Aker Kvaemer ASA in 2004. It engineered the LP OXO process for making 0X0 alcohols, using technology from Davy Process Technology and Dow Chemical Co. Plants have been built in several countries. 

Raffinate-2 as a raw material is converted to C5 aldehydes and finally to Cio alcohols by sequential hydroformylation, aldol condensation, and hydrogenation [268]. Union Carbide and Davy Process Technology have developed a hydro-... 

Figure 3.37 Davy process technology oxo process. Source [134].

Davy Process Technology, Princeton Drive, Stockton-on-Tees TS17 6PY, UK. E-mail steve.colley davyprotech.com... 

Davy Process Technology, 20 Eastbourne Terrace, London W2 6LE, UK E-mail mike.tuck davyprotech.com... 

Dimethyl terephthlate - GTC Technology Dimethylformamide - Davy Process Technology, UK Diphenyl carbonate - Lummus Technology Ethanolamines - Davy Process Technology, UK... 

Methanol-two step reforming - hlaldor TopsoeA/S Methylamines - Davy Process Technology, UK Mixed xylenes -/ xens... 

MTBE/ETBE and TAME/TAEE Etherification technologies-Axens m-Xylene - UOP LLC, A Honeywell Company Natural detergent alcohols - Davy Process Technology, UK Normal parafins, C g-C 3 - UOP LLC, A Honeywell Company n-Paraffins - Kellogg Brown Root LLC Octenes - Axens... 

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