Degussa/Uhde process

Figure 6.6 Simplified flow-sheet of the Degussa/Uhde process [19],...

Table 6.3 Catalytic performance in propene epoxidation with H P in the Degussa/Uhde process [20].

Figure 6.7 Block diagram of the liquid stream separation section of the Degussa/Uhde process for PO production [20].

Thirty years after the invention of ENI s TS-1, new environmentally friendly processes have been commercialized for the epoxidation of propylene and the ammoximation of cyclohexanone that have no major by-products or coproducts. The BASF-Dow and Degussa-Uhde processes claim to be environmentally friendly, have low capital investment costs, and have no significant quantities of by-products when compared to either the chlorohydrin or the PO with styrene monomer processes. The Sumitomo PO process is also beneficial for the environment, because it needs only a cumene-to-cumene hydroperoxide reactivation process step. 

Micro process technology still remains concentrated on laboratory applications. In the last 3 years, only a few applications have become known of industrial implementations. It is expected that more industrial micro structured reactor plants exist but the details are not published. Published examples exist from Merck [53], UOP, Degussa/Uhde and Clariant, but details were only available at a low level for confidentiality reasons. 

BASF activities have shown that one can make money by investigating gas-phase reactions for process development. If Degussa and Krupp-Uhde have built a very large micro reactor with outer dimensions of more than 1 m, obviously there must be an economic reason for that. 

Together with the engineering company Uhde (Germany), Degussa (now Evonik Industries) has also developed an innovative process for producing propene oxide (PO) from H202, the so-called HPPO process. The Korean company SKC, Seoul, has... 

Degussa, in turn, has recently announced the commercialization of a HPPO process, jointly developed with the engineering company Uhde. Parallel to this, Degussa with Headwaters is also working on the direct synthesis of H2O2, for which a demonstration plant was completed in 2006 [151]. According to the news release, hydrogen peroxide will be obtained in the new process as a dilute methanol solution to be used directly in the epoxidation of propene. 

Joint ventures and collaborations for the implementation of newly developed HPPO processes have been established between BASF, Dow and Solvay, and between Degussa-Evonik, Headwaters and Krupp-Uhde [11]. 

A joint BASF/Dow HPPO plant (300 000 ta PO) was constructed in Antwerp in 2006, partnerii with Solvay as a supplier of H Oj (230000ta H O ). Evonik (formerly Degussa) developed an HPPO process with Uhde, opening a plant in Ulsan, South Korea (100 000 ta PO), licensed to SKC in 2008. And finally, an HPPO plant operated by Dow/SCG began production in Thailand in 2011 (390 000 ta PO) with a companion H O plant (330 000 ta ) nearby. 

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