Major engineering problems

Maintenance of sterile and specific culture conditions should be carried out.

Collection and storage of raw materials and medium for production.

Continuous raw materials dilution and continuous distillation are introduced to save the
equipments, space and operating costs.

During waste disposal if uneconomic to concentrate for cattle feed, trickling filters, activated
sludge or anaerobic digestion must be used to lower biological oxygen demand before
discharging to water run-off

For fuel economy in the series of distillations preheat exchangers are used.

BUTANOL
Butanol can be produced by fermentation of biomass by bacteria. When produced
biologically called as bio-butanol. It is primarily used as a solvent, as an intermediate in
chemical synthesis, and as a fuel. Commercially, butanol is produced from fossil fuels.
Propene is hydroformylated to butyraldehyde which was then reduced with hydrogen to 1-
butanol and/or 2-butanol.
The most wide spread means of producing butanol today is the oxo process where
propylene and syngas (CO and H2) are reacted. The products were both aldehydes and
ketones. Most of the aldehydes produced are either reduced to alcohol directly or subjected to
aldol condensation prior to hydrogenation.
MANUFACUTRE
1. By fermentation of starch products
Raw materials used are molasses, grain, microorganisms, nutrients and water
Reaction

Manufacture process
Molasses diluted with water to a concentration of approximately 5% sugar, sterilize,
cooled to 300C and pumped to fermenter. The fermentation was carried out for 36 - 48 hrs.
The beer containing 1.5 2.5% mixed solvents were taken out from beer column % residue
obtained from bottom of column.
 During fermentation carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas were evolved. The beer treated
in a batch column from which water can be removed and ethyl alcohol, acetone from top of
column. The butanol section containing about 50% water taken out from middle portion of
column was created in a separator column from which butanol was obtained as a bottom
product.

2. From propylene and synthesis gas

Raw materials propylene, synthesis gas and hydrogen
Reaction

Manufacture process
The process is also known as Oxo process. The liquid propylene and the fresh
synthesis gas at the pressure of 25 30MPa were preheated, in heat exchangers by the heat of
the hot reaction mass coming out from the top of the reactor vessel. Then they were charged
in to a reactor where the solution of cobalt carbonyls in toluene was introduced from
carbonyl formation unit. In reactor aldehydes and by-products were formed at 110 1600C
and the heat evolved being dissipated by the boiling water condensate with the generation of
low-pressure steam.
The heat of the reaction mass was used in heat exchangers and in separator the liquid
was separated and the synthesis gas was recycled together with some of the unconverted
propylene by compressor to the reaction. The liquid from the separator was throttled to 0.2
0.4MPa and oxidized at 40 700C by a small amount of air in oxidation column. In this
column, the oxygen-depleted air passes over into the gas phase together with CO, H2 and
propylene, which were in dissolved state at a high pressure, and also with the vapours of the
aldehydes entrained by the gas. These vapours were absorbed in absorber by the heavy ends
from distillation and the gases were discharged to the atmosphere or burnt.
The liquid from oxidizing column and absorber was then transferred to vaporizer. The
solution of the cobalt salt from the bottom of this column was sent to carbonyl-formation unit
along with toluene, where the formation of the carbonyls takes place at 170 1800C and 25
30MPa in the presence of a small amount of the CO:H2 mixture and a fresh solution of cobalt
naphthenate. The resultant carbonyls were then recycled to a reactor, where the crude
aldehydes was taken as overhead from the top of vapourizer and hydrogenated over a
heterogeneous catalyst in hydrogenator. The resultant isobutyl and n-butyl alcohols mixture
were charged into fractionating column where they were separated from the bottoms in
fractionating column.

Engineering aspects
Catalyst
Rhodium is very expensive and the modified cobalt catalyst is less active and causes a side
hydrogenation reaction. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of oxo plants operate in the
presence of the conventional cobalt catalyst. The most promising method with this catalyst is
the vaporization salt method for carrying out the reaction and for the regeneration of the
catalyst.
Acetone manufacture from isopropanol

Reactions

Dehydrogenation of Isopropanol
Isopropanol Acetone + H2
Reaction pressure: 3 4 atms
Reaction temperature: 400 500oC
Copper catalyst on porous carrier is used
Vapor phase reaction

Process Technology

Flow sheet of acetone manufacture from isopropanol

First, Isopropanol is heated using steam to vaporize the same.

Then, Isopropanol is compressed to desired reactor pressure i.e., 4 5 atms.
The compressed Isopropanol then enters a catalytic shell and tube reactor in the tube
side. The tube is packed with the porous copper catalyst.
The reactor is operated at 400 500C using flue gas for heating. The flue gas is
passed in the shell side of the shell and tube reactor.
After reaction, the gases are condensed using cooling water condenser. The
condensed isopropanol and acetone are sent for fractionation.
The gases consisting of the remaining quantities of isopropanol and acetone are
absorbed into water using a water scrubber.
 The acetone + isopropanol obtained from the condenser and water + isopropanol
+acetone are sent to an acetone fractionator that separates acetone as the top product
and isopropanol + water as bottom product.
The bottom product isopropanol + water from the acetone fractionators is sent to a
isoprpopanol column.
This column produces water as the bottom product and isopropanol as the top product.
The water is cooled using a water condenser and sent to the water scrubber as fresh
water solvent.

Uses of Acetone :

Acetone is used as a polar, aprotic solvent in a variety of organic reactions. One important
property for which it is used as laboratory solvent is because does not form an azeotrope with
water.

Acetone is also used in various medical and cosmetic applications. It also forms an important
component in food additives and food packaging.