Aniline

Market Situation

The aniline synthesis market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 5 to 6% though to 2015 from the current market size of around 4,000 KTA.

Commercially about 80% of aniline is used for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), the primary ingredient in polyurethane foam and the strongest area of growth for MDI is China where in 2007-2008 demand was increasing at a rate of 15% annually. The balance of aniline demand is for applications such as rubber additives and dyestuffs which account for 5% and 3% respectively.

Commercial Applications

Approximately 80 percent of the world's aniline production is used to manufacture polyurethanes. Regardless of whether MDI polyurethane ends up in insulation, furniture, or footwear, KBR is delivering a vital product in this key market as a leading aniline licensor.

KBR is the exclusive licensor of DuPont's aniline technology, which is currently used in four world-scale aniline synthesis facilities. This benchmark technology is a testament to product quality, product yield, process safety and environmental controls. Offering comprehensive services including technology licensing, basic and detailed engineering, construction and support for plant operation such as operator training and start-up services, KBR brings the right people and technology to every project.

Values and Benefits

The DuPont/KBR aniline process has been optimized to produce a higher quality aniline product at a lower manufacturing cost. Key features of this technology are:

Higher Yields

The process consistently achieves 99.5% efficiency of mono-nitrobenzene utilization.

Higher Purity Product

Aniline produced maintains constant high product purity without variations due to changes in catalyst activity, which are typical of vapor-phase fixed-bed hydrogenation technologies. The aniline product from this process is the highest quality in the industry, with less than 0.1 ppmwt MNB.

Superior Catalyst System

DuPont's proprietary hydrogenation catalyst and the liquid phase hydrogenation system provides excellent catalyst life. It also avoids the complexity of a catalyst regeneration system typical of vapor-phase hydrodgenation technology. The high selectivity catalyst achieves essentially quantitative yields with minimal by-product formation, resulting in a simple product purification system.

Lower Capital Cost

The DuPont/KBR hydrogenation system is mechanically simple and compact. Unlike vapor-phase fluidized-bed or fixed-bed technologies, parallel reactor trains or multiple reactor stages are not required with liquid phase hydrogenation.

Product Quality

The DuPont/KBR aniline process consistently produces a very high quality aniline product, suitable for all MDI production technologies, and other specialty chemical applications. The typical product quality is:

Aniline, wt%	99.95
MNB, ppmwt	0.1
Water, ppmwt	300
Color, APHA	30
Freeze Point (dry basis) °C	-6.0

Technology Information

Mono-nitrobenzene (MNB) is fed together with hydrogen into a liquid phase plug-flow hydrogenation reactor that contains a DuPont proprietary catalyst. The supported noble metal catalyst has a high selectivity and the MNB conversion per pass is 100 percent. The reaction conditions are optimized to achieve essentially quantitative yields and the reactor effluent is free of MNB. Excess hydrogen from the reactor effluent is vented and the reactor product is sent to a dehydration column to remove water of reaction followed by a purification column to produce high quality aniline product.

For more information on Aniline, please visit our KBR Petrochemicals publications.