Caterbas, Yhamy B.
Production of Caprolactam from Phenol - Cebu City CIT-U 2013
Caprolactam is one of the most widely used chemical intermediates. Caprolactam or 6-amino-hexanoic acid-lactam is a white, hygroscopic crystalline solid at ambient temperature with a characteristics odour. It is highly soluble in water and most organic solvents and is hardly soluble in high molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbons. The compound melts at 69°C. It can be hydrolysed, N-alkylated, halogenated, but its most important reaction is polymerization. Polymerization can occur by polycondensation, polyaddition or anionic polymerization. Caprolactam is readily converted to high molecular weight linear nylon-6 polymers. Caprolactam has already been known since the 19th century, but commercial interest started in 1938 when the first spinnable polymer was produced by polycondensation of caprolacta. Since then, caprolactam has gained importance and large-sclae industrial production has increased rapidly.
This study aims to design a plant with a capacity of 100,000 ton per year. The process involved in this design is composed of three reactions. The first part is the hydrogenation of phenol to form cyclohexanone. This reaction also produces a by-product cyclohexanol. The second part of the process is the ammoximation reaction. Here, the cyclohexanone produced is reacted with hydrogen peroxide and ammonia to form cyclohexanoneoxime. The last part of the process is the Beckmann Rearrangement. In this process, the cyclohexanoneoxime is rearranged to caprolactam. The plant is designed to produced solid phase product of caprolactam.
The production of caprolactam is made from the reaction of the raw materials (phenol, hydrogen, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia). There are 16 major equipments in this process. Their corresponding mass and energy balances are calculated in the following chapters. This study also determines the profitability of caprolactam production, whether it is worth investing in the Philippines or not. The wastes generated are elaborated and the disposal and treatment are explained more in this study.
T C283 2013
Production of Caprolactam from Phenol - Cebu City CIT-U 2013
Caprolactam is one of the most widely used chemical intermediates. Caprolactam or 6-amino-hexanoic acid-lactam is a white, hygroscopic crystalline solid at ambient temperature with a characteristics odour. It is highly soluble in water and most organic solvents and is hardly soluble in high molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbons. The compound melts at 69°C. It can be hydrolysed, N-alkylated, halogenated, but its most important reaction is polymerization. Polymerization can occur by polycondensation, polyaddition or anionic polymerization. Caprolactam is readily converted to high molecular weight linear nylon-6 polymers. Caprolactam has already been known since the 19th century, but commercial interest started in 1938 when the first spinnable polymer was produced by polycondensation of caprolacta. Since then, caprolactam has gained importance and large-sclae industrial production has increased rapidly.
This study aims to design a plant with a capacity of 100,000 ton per year. The process involved in this design is composed of three reactions. The first part is the hydrogenation of phenol to form cyclohexanone. This reaction also produces a by-product cyclohexanol. The second part of the process is the ammoximation reaction. Here, the cyclohexanone produced is reacted with hydrogen peroxide and ammonia to form cyclohexanoneoxime. The last part of the process is the Beckmann Rearrangement. In this process, the cyclohexanoneoxime is rearranged to caprolactam. The plant is designed to produced solid phase product of caprolactam.
The production of caprolactam is made from the reaction of the raw materials (phenol, hydrogen, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia). There are 16 major equipments in this process. Their corresponding mass and energy balances are calculated in the following chapters. This study also determines the profitability of caprolactam production, whether it is worth investing in the Philippines or not. The wastes generated are elaborated and the disposal and treatment are explained more in this study.
T C283 2013