Phthalic

Anhydride

The Technobell
technology that is used
to produce phthalic
anhydride (PA) is
based on a well-known
catalyst for oxidation
of o-xylene to form
phthalic anhydride
with or without off-gas
recycling.
 Phthalic anhydride production capacity
Up to 40,000 MTPA Up to 80,000 MTPA
Feed systems incl. o-xylene storage and vaporisation, air compression, and feed mixing
1 pc. of fixed bed reactor + 1 pc. of post-reactor 2 pcs. of fixed bed reactors + 2 pcs. of post-reactors
Continuous gas cooling system + condensation
(based on switch condensers)
Continuous phthalic anhydride distillation and refining system
Incinerator for waste gases and liquids
Phthalic anhydride product storage and flaking / packing system

The given data are for information purposes only and may be subject to change
without prior notice.
Main advantages of the process:
High overall yield of phthalic anhydride product
(up to 115 wt%).

High concentration of o-xylene in the feed gas results

lower investment and operation costs.

Application of post-reactor shows near-complete

removal of undesired by-products and minimisation of
burning of PA.

Careful and inventive process design allows optimal

heat recovery from the reactor gases and production
of medium pressure (MP) and low pressure (LP)
steam.

Technology design allows using any suitable

commercially available oxidation catalyst.

Technobell offers continuous thermal treatment and

distillation of phthalic anhydride. Such design results in
slightly smaller equipment requirements and greatly
increased utilisation of uniform energy resources.
There are no oscillations in export steam quantities,
which regularly occur in batch distillation systems.

The environment is protected by incineration of liquid

and gas pollutants.

Fixed bed reactor(s) results in flexible operation.

High efficiency of switch condensers (up to 99,8%).

Process Scheme
PROPERTIES: Form Unit Expected value Guaranteed Value
Colour Molten Hazen 5 Max. 10
Colour stability Molten Hazen 30 Max. 40
Melting point Molten C 131,5 Max. 131,3
Colour stability Solid Hazen 40 Max. 60

Services
TECHNOBELL is a long-standing engineering company
specialising in the process and project design.
In field of phthalic anhydride we supply our clients
with know-how, technology and equipment / machines
for process lines as well as turnkey plant, including
engineering, procurement, construction, training,
commissioning and initial assistance in marketing.

The given data are for

information purposes
only and may be
subject to change
without prior notice.