PROJECT

REVIEW ON
PRODUCTION
OF ACROLEIN
K.RAVIRAJ
S.ABDUL RAHAMAN

ACROLEIN
It belongs to ,-Unsaturated carbonyl compounds family

C C

Formula:

C H2=CHCHO

Other Names
2-Propenal, Acrylaldehyde, Propenal, Acrylic aldehyde, prop-2-enal, Allyl aldehyde

INRODUCTION
It is simplest unsaturated aldehyde
Acrolein is a clear, colorless, or yellow liquid with a pungent, suffocating
odor
Primary characteristic of acrolein is conjugation of carbonyl group with
vinyl group
Highly toxic with lacrimatory properties
Acrolein is soluble in water, alcohol, ether and acetone.
It may be formed from the breakdown of certain pollutants in outdoor air
or from the burning of organic matter including tobacco, or fuels such as
gasoline or oil

CONT..

It is very flammable and may polymerize violently

It is toxic to humans following inhalation, oral or dermal exposures

Acrolein should be stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area intightly sealed
containers separated from alkaline materials such as caustics, ammonia,
organic amines, or mineral acids, strong oxidizers, and oxygen

It is a widely used intermediate in the production of building materials,

herbicides andalgaecides, water treatment chemicals, and essential amino
acids like methionine

AIM: To

HISTORY:

The first industrial process was invented by Degussa in1942, produced acrolein
by aldol condensation of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde
HCH=O + CH3CH=O CH2=CHCHO + H2O

The second process that emerged at the end of the1950s was partial
oxidation of propylene
CH3CH=CH2 + [O] CH2=CHCHO + H2O
The Shell Company initiated the gas phase acrolein production by partial
oxidation of propylene in1958
Followed by stand oil of Ohio(SOHIO)which indentified bismuthmolybdateas the
catalyst for an economical and high yield acrolein production

AIM: To

MAIN PROCESSES:
PROPENE OXIDATION:

GLYCEROL ROUTE:

(CH2OH)2CHOH CH2=CHCHO + 2 H2O

SELECTION OF A PROCESS:
Out of two processes propene oxidation is commercially attractive one
BECAUSE
Availability of propene is very high
Economically viable
Widely accepted in industries.
Development of catalysts with high selectivity & Yield
Low maintainance cost of process & economic feasiability of process

PROCESS DESCRIPTION:
The current industry standard for production of Acrolein is via the catalytic partial
oxidation of Propylene.
FEED:
Propene
Steam
Air
CATALYST:
Bismuth molybdate
OPERATING CONDITIONS:
Temperature: 350C
Pressure: 1 atm
The reaction is very exothermic [ heat of propene oxidation is 340 kJ/mol]

Propylene (stream 2), water vapor (stream 4) and compressed air (stream 6) are mixed and
heated to a temperature of 250 C

The resulting mixture (stream 8) is sent to a fixed bed catalytic reactor (R-101) which is the
reaction of propylene with oxygen

The resulting mixture is quenched with deionized water to a temperature of 50 C (stream 11)
to prevent more homogeneous oxidation reactions

The stream 12 is then sent to an absorber, T-101, where it is purified of water and acrolein is
recovered in the bottoms product (stream 15)

The off-gas , stream 14, is sent to an incinerator

The stream 15 is distilled in a distillation column T-102 to separate acrolein from the unreacted
propylene, water and acrylic acid

The bottoms product from this column (stream 16) consists of waste water and acrylic acid are
then sent to a waste treatment plant.

Cont
The distillate (stream 19) is sent to the T-103 column where the propylene
is separated from the remainder of the system of acrolein and water
The tail from the product stream 19 is sent to the T-104 column, where the
acrolein is separated from the water
The stream 21 is sent to a treatment station, and the overhead product
(stream 20) consisting of acrolein of a purity of about 98%
Process flow diagram is show below

AIM: To

MARKET TRENDS:
Acrolein as a chemical product is rarely sold in large amounts on the open
market
the price and market for the chemical is entirely dependent on the products it is
used to create
the market is centred around countries and areas with facilities that process the
chemical further
There are six main products that are produced using Acrolein. These are
polyurethane, propylene, polyester resin, acrylic acid and acrylonitrile

Small scale Market price:

US $1.9 - 2.1 per Kilogram[Alibaba]
The majority of manufacturers selling Acrolein are doing so from mainland China

USES:

AIM: To

BIOCIDE:
Acrolein is mainly used as a contact herbicide to control
submersed and floating weeds, as well as algae, in irrigation
canals
Used as an agent to control growth of microbes in process feed
lines
Currently, It is used to control growth of algae in oil fields
It is also used as a H2S Scavenger

CHEMICAL PRECURSOR
Used in the production of polyacrylate(SAP)
Methionine production [animal growth, very important amino-acid]
Transparent ballistic polymer[1,3 propanediol] production
Poly-trimethylene terephthalate(PTT) production[ThePTT is widely using in
carpet and textilemanufacturing]

THANKYOU