Tetrahydrofuran plant to use novel technology

Abstract

Novel technology is at the heart of a tetrahydrofuran (THF) plant that Du Pont will install in Asturias, Spain. When completed in 1995, it will be the first commercial use of a transport-bed reactor in a catalytic process for production of chemicals, Du Pont says. The 99 million-lb-per-year unit will be based on a two-step method, starting with C-butane in place of the more usual 1,4-butanediol. The butane first is converted to maleic anhydride, using an oxidation catalyst hardened to withstand physical stress in the reactor. Reduction with hydrogen then produces THF. Du Pont invented and patented the transport-bed reactor and hardened catalyst system, and carried out pilotplant development. The oxidation operates at about 300 °C and low pressure, with short residence times. Transport-bed reactor technology is analogous, in some aspects, to fluid catalytic cracking. Catalyst is conveyed pneumatically upward in a stream of high-velocity reaction gases, creating intimate mixing between catalyst solids and b...