Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of Chemical Processes, 5th Edition

Project 3: Scale-Down of Phthalic Anhydride Production at TBWS Unit 700

C.3.1 Background

You have recently joined the TSBW Chemical Corporation. One of TSBW’s major businesses has always been production of phthalic anhydride from naphthalene. Phthalic anhydride production is integrated as part of a large chemical plant, in which naphthalene is produced and in which phthalic anhydride is immediately used to make polyester resins. In recent years, there have been some problems. Some end users have complained about the quality of the resins produced and have taken their business to other companies that produce phthalic anhydride from o-xylene. Therefore, our plant, which had been designed to produce 100,000 tonne/y of phthalic anhydride from naphthalene, ...