Scribd
Upload
30 views

bullet 1

Uploaded by

Ahmed Meddy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
30 views

bullet 1

Uploaded by

Ahmed Meddy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

OVERVIEW: PRODUCTION OF PURE MONOMER STYRENE

Styrene is a critical industrial monomer widely used in producing polystyrene. It is the basis
for the production of a wide variety of polymers and polymer-derived products such as
plastics, synthetic rubbers, and resins. Its industrial process, synthesis and purification
typically rely on dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene. Alternative process the styrene monomer
propylene oxide (SMPO) process. This research investigates both pre-existing methods for
styrene production and alternative processes with potential advantages, including energy
efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. Additionally, attention is
given to the requirements for technology transfer, enabling the successful adoption of
advanced processes. The most commonly implemented pre-existing process is
dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene due to its versatility, economic viability and effectivenes.
PRE-EXISTING PROCESS FOR STYRENE PRODUCTION
Dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene
The primary reactant in this industrial process, ethylbenzene (EB), is dehydrogenated to
produce styrene monomer, with hydrogen as a byproduct. Over 75% of all styrene companies
in operation carry out the dehydrogenation process adiabatically, whereas 85% of commercial
production involves the direct dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene, which may be
accomplished either isothermally or adiabatically. Usually two adiabatic reactors connected
in series are used to dehydrate ethylbenzene. (Stéphane, Margaux, Maria, Gilles, & Yifan,
2023-2024)
Firstly, the EB dehydrogenation is endothermic and reversible. The reaction is the following :
C6H5CH2CH3 ⇋ C6H5CHCH2 + H2
∆H (600 C) = 124.9 kJ/mol
So low pressures and high temperatures are favorable to high conversion in the adiabatic
vapor-phase reactors.
ALTERNATIVE PROCESS FOR STYRENE PRODUCTION
The styrene monomer propylene oxide (SMPO) process.
With the use of titanium-on-silica catalysts, ethylbenzene undergoes oxidative
dehydrogenation, and propylene undergoes an epoxidation reaction with ethyl benzene hydro
peroxide (EBHP) to create propylene oxide and methyl phenyl carbinol (MPC), which in turn
yields styrene monomer and propylene oxide. The complexity of this process, which involves
several reaction phases that require separate reacting sections and controls, prevents it from
being widely used in commercial enterprises.The SMPO process comprises four main
reaction steps that are schematically shown below. (Buijink, Lange, & Bos, 2008)

+ O2

EB EBHP
Ti/SiO2
+ +
EBHP
MPC PO

Alumina

+ H2O
MPC
SM

H2, catalyst

MPC MPK

1) Oxidation of ethylbenzene (EB) with air to ethylbenzene hydroperoxide (EBHP)


2) Epoxidation of propylene with EBHP to produce PO and methyl phenylcarbinol
(MPC)
3) Dehydration of MPC to styrene monomer (SM).
4) Hydrogenation of methyl phenyl ketone (MPK), which is a side-product of the first
two reactions, to MPC, for subsequent conversion to (SM)

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FOR STYRENE PRODUCTION


1) Badger's Styrene Monomer Production Technology
Badger's styrene monomer technology dehydrogenates ethylbenzene in a series of adiabatic
reactors at high temperatures (inlets over 620 °C) and vacuum pressures (below 90 kPa
absolute). Reaction heat is either supplied by a fired heater using steam as a transfer medium
or directly with hydrogen-fueled direct heating units. The design permits the molar ratio of
reaction steam to ethylbenzene feed to be as low as 6. Conversion is typically 64% after
passing through two reactor stages. Hydrogen produced by the dehydrogenation is either
burned as fuel for the reaction heaters or exported to be purified. A three-step distillation
process separates the styrene from unreacted ethylbenzene and by-products. The Badger
process improves energy efficiency by generating high-pressure steam against the reactor
effluent. In the high-efficiency variant of the design, energy is recovered from the reactor
effluent by generating reaction steam at the same time as vaporizing the feed ethylbenzene by
making use of the ethylbenzene and water minimum-boiling azeotrope. (J & Vallieres, 2023)
2) Single-step production of styrene monomer by using heterogeneous catalyst
The invented technology provides good yield of styrene. The differentiation is achieved
based on our atom-efficient high surface area heterogeneous catalysts.
Technology
The most widely practiced commercial technology for synthesis of styrene is the
dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene, which is unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly.
The invention is an atom-efficient high surface area heterogeneous catalyst made from widely
available and cheap carbon-based materials. It enables efficient and sustainable catalytic
routes for the production of styrene and can retain its activity after a number of cycles. This
solution replaces the current multiple-step and energy-intensive industrial process of the
styrene production with a single-step process by using heterogeneous catalyst under relatively
mild operating conditions. The technology can be simply integrated into existing standard
styrene production processes. We are now entering a pilot phase in a relevant industrial
environment. (Chemistry, n.d.)
Main advantages
 The process does not need extremely toxic chemicals and costly catalysts.
 In contrast to the industrial process, the invented catalyst is easy to prepare and
inexpensive.
 A single-step catalytic process, enable easy implementation of the technology into
current industrial production processes.
3) Distillation process optimization for styrene production from a styrene-benzene-
toluene system in a Petlyuk column
The conventional way to produce styrene monomer is ethyl-benzene dehydrogenation, which
generates benzene and toluene as byproducts. In general, the separation of these three
components is made through successive reactor product distillation, first removing benzene
and, then, separating toluene from benzene. The main problem with the use of conventional
distillation columns is excessive energy consumption in comparison with modern separation
methods. This work simulates the conventional distillation system and the coupled column
system (Petlyuk), in order to compare the benefits obtained on energy economy. The results
show that, while the energy consumption to feed the boilers in the conventional distillation
system is 2295 kW, for the Petlyuk system the energy consumption was 1554 kW,
representing energy economy of 32.3%. Moreover, with application of this method higher
purity was obtained for toluene, from 76.19% to 99.67%, and for styrene, from 99.71% to
99.98%. (Parra-Santiago)

REFERENCES
Parra-Santiago, J. J. (n.d.). Distillation process optimization for styrene production from a
styrene-benzene-toluene system in a Petlyuk column. Chemical Engineering and
Processing: Process Intensification journal., 98.
J, A. B., & Vallieres, P. (2023, March 10). Badger's Styrene Monomer Production
Technology (Case Study) catalyst. Wiley online library.
Chemistry, N. I. (n.d.). A single-step production of styrene monomer by using heterogeneous
catalyst. From Kemijski Institut: https://www.ki.si/en
Buijink, J., Lange, J.-P., & Bos, R. (2008). Propylene Epoxidation via Shell's SMPO Process.
Amsterdam, Netherland: Reasearch Gate.
Stéphane, C., Margaux, D., Maria, F., Gilles, J., & Yifan, W. (2023-2024). Process design of
styrene monomer production. Liege university.

You might also like