Catalyst Optimization Strategy: Selective Oxidation of o-Xylene to Phthalic Anhydride

Title: Catalyst Optimization Strategy: Selective Oxidation of o-Xylene to Phthalic Anhydride

Volume: 15 Issue: 2

Author(s): Hans-Jorg Woelk and Gerhard Mestl

Affiliation:

Keywords: Artificial neural network, kinetics, phthalic anhydride, reaction network, vanadia-titania catalysts, oxidation reactions, high-throughput, o-xylene, feedstock, multilayer catalysts, isothermal operation, homogeneity

Abstract: The oxidation of o-xylene and/or naphthalene to phthalic anhydride is one of the important industrial processes based on catalytic selective oxidation reactions. Vanadia - titania catalysts have been used in the industrial phthalic anyhdride process for the last 50 years. The operation parameters like the temperature range of operation, reactor inlet pressures, contact times, o-xylene loadings, etc. were constantly improved during this period of continuous process optimization so as to optimize catalyst performance and increase its life time. However, a fundamental understanding of the mutual interaction of the rather complex reaction network and the catalyst formulation is still missing. Recently, a detailed study of by-product formation as function of process conditions allowed us to develop a novel, improved reaction scheme for the catalytic oxidation of o-xylene [1]. Based on this understanding, a detailed investigation was conducted for the first time of the by-product formation under varying operation conditions and as a function of the active mass variation exploiting high-throughput, as well as bench scales reactors. This high-throughput testing allowed us to relate reaction kinetics to novel catalyst formulations.

Cite this article as:

Woelk Hans-Jorg and Mestl Gerhard, Catalyst Optimization Strategy: Selective Oxidation of o-Xylene to Phthalic Anhydride, Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening 2012; 15 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138620712798868383