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

Project 4: The Design of a New 100,000-Metric-Tons-per-Year Phthalic Anhydride Production Facility

C.4.1 Background

The operation of Unit 700, our phthalic anhydride facility, has been successfully scaled down by 50%. Over the long term, changing to o-xylene as the raw material is still being considered. The catalysis and reaction engineering group has finished preliminary research and is very optimistic about its new catalyst. They promise that it will be superior to other versions of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride catalysts in that most side products are minimized. At this point it is unclear whether Unit 700 will be retrofitted to accommodate the new catalyst or whether a new, grassroots facility will be built at another site, nearer to an ...