Technology

The BASF Dow Process consists in the Epoxidation of Propylene into Propylene Oxide (PO) with Hydrogen Peroxide (HP), thus referred to as the HPPO Process. The Oxidation Reaction is performed with a Solid Catalyst in a Tubular Reactor. Reaction in Methanol as essential Solvent is catalyzed by a proprietary TS-1 Zeolite arranged in a fixed bed. To reach high HP conversions at high PO selectivity in a Production Process without violating kinetic laws, a 2-Step Reactor concept is employed with a design point of about 90% HP conversion in the first step at below 90°C and 30 bar in Liquid Phase using Methanol as Solvent. In a following Separation Step produced PO is removed from the Reaction Mixture by Distillation. After feeding additional Olefin, the final HP Conversion realized in a Finishing Reactor is above 99 %. With optimized Process parameters and TS-1 Catalyst, total PO selectivity can exceed 94 %. According to another source the overall HP conversion is 99.4%, and the overall PO selectivity is 95-96%; the PO yield based on HP is 94-95%.