ammonia; phenol

aniline

To produce aniline from ammonia and phenol by vapor phase ammonolysis.

Description: Phenol from storage is mixed with excess ammonia, vaporized, preheated and then fed to the adiabatic, fixed bed reactor (1). In this vessel, ammonia reacts with phenol over a catalyst to produce aniline and water. The liquid and vapor portions separated (2).
   The vapor fraction (unconverted ammonia) is compressed and recycled (3). The liquid fraction is stripped of ammonia, dried (4) and distilled (5) to produce high -purity aniline-phenol azeotrope and recycled to reaction.
   One of the key features of the process is the unique SD-developed catalyst which permits almost complete phenol conversion (per pass) at nearly stoichiometric yields. As a result, the purification train is very simple and the aniline product is of unusually high purity. The catalyst has an extremely long life (in excess of seven years).
   Another key feature of the process is the ability to vary the ratio of the reactants, including the primary product as a reactant, to selectively produce diphenylamine as a valuable byproduct. An additional purification train is required to yield high-purity diphenylamine. Importantly, however, the catalyst life remains essentially unchanged.

Component Names and Formula