The history of start of the first production of aniline by vapor phase contact reduction of nitrobenzene with hydrogen

Aniline is one of the most important products of heavy organic synthesis. Its importance to the national economy is emphasized in the title of one of the branches of chemical industry – aniline-dye industry. Until the late 50’s of the twentieth century, almost last 100 years aniline was produced in the world is mainly by method Béchamp. It is a liquid phase reduction of nitrobenzene iron turnings in an acidic medium. At the turn of the 50’s and 60’s of the last century in the production of aniline, a transition to a new progressive way was made – to catalytic vapor-phase reduction of nitrobenzene by hydrogen. Abroad and in USSR this method was mastered in industry almost simultaneously and its development occurred independently. In the Soviet Union, the creator of this method was the Soviet chemist I.M. Tsapko who developed the catalyst B-3. The first workshop production of aniline with capacity 18 thousand tons of product per year was commissioned in 1958 at the Bereznikovskiy aniline-colorful plant on this catalyst. At the load 897 kg/h of nitrobenzene and 2090 nm3/h of hydrogen for one contact system (found in the shop four contact systems) are obtained 668 kg / h of aniline. The yield of aniline at contacting step was 98,5 mol.%. Mode of operation of the catalyst: preparation of aniline – 125 hours, the catalyst regeneration – 15 hours This method provides a reduction of product cost at 15 %. In the present article the plant scheme and operating conditions of the catalyst in the vapor phase production of aniline.

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