Production
Maleic anhydride was traditionally manufactured by the oxidation of benzene or other aromatic compounds. As of 2006, only a few smaller plants continue to use benzene; due to rising benzene prices, most maleic anhydride plants now use n-butane as a feedstock.
In both cases, benzene and butane are fed into a stream of hot air, and the mixture is passed through a catalyst bed at high temperature. The ratio of air to hydrocarbon is controlled to prevent the mixture from catching on fire. Vanadium pentoxide and molybdenum trioxide are the catalysts used for the benzene route, whereas vanadium and phosphorus oxides are used for the butane route.
- 2 CH3CH2CH2CH3 + 7 O2 → 2 C2H2(CO)2O + 8 H2O
Read more about this topic: Maleic Anhydride
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The heart of man ever finds a constant succession of passions, so that the destroying and pulling down of one proves generally to be nothing else but the production and the setting up of another.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; and generally misses of its aim in every one of these views; for lies are always detected, sooner or later.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“The problem of culture is seldom grasped correctly. The goal of a culture is not the greatest possible happiness of a people, nor is it the unhindered development of all their talents; instead, culture shows itself in the correct proportion of these developments. Its aim points beyond earthly happiness: the production of great works is the aim of culture.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)