Maleic Anhydride (MA)

Maleic Anhydride (Anhidrida Maleat) adalah bahan kimia intermediasi, diproduksi dari oksidasi
benzene menggunakan katalis khusus. Sampai dengan tahun 2006, hanya beberapa pabrik yang
masih menggunakan benzena. Karena kenaikan harga benzena tersebut, kebanyakan pabrik
menggunakan n-butana sebagai stok umpan (feedstock).
Maleic Anhydride adalah bahan kimia serbaguna yang dibutuhkan hampir di seluruh bidang
industri kimia. Kegunaan Maleic Anhydride yang beragam dikarenakan oleh struktur dari
grup dicarboxylic acid, reaktivitas ikatan rangkap pada posisi alfa dan beta. Struktur kimia ini
dan reaktivitas yang tinggi dari turunan Maleic Anhydride memungkinkan untuk membuat
beragam jenis resin dan juga merupakan pereaksi organik untuk berbagai transformasi kimia.
Penggunaan utama dari Maleic Anhydride antara lain:

Produksi Unsaturated Polyester Resins

Produksi Rosin adduct
Produksi Alkyd Resins
Produksi Fumaric acid
Produksi minyak pelumas ,p roduk tersebut memenuhi standar manufaktur sesuai dengan
persyaratan ISO 9001:2008.

The following reactions occur during the reaction of butane with oxygen:

Process details
1. Process diagram

2. Process description
Oxidation
Maleic anhydride is produced by the partial oxidation of butane with air over a
vanadium/phosphorus catalyst. Low concentrations (PPM range) of a stabilizer (SAS) are added
to the feed gas stream to stabilize catalyst activity and selectivity. Water (in the form of steam) is
also added under some conditions to modify catalyst performance.

Reaction chemistry
Main reaction:

Side reactions:
- Butane thermal oxidation
C4H10 + 6.5 O2 4 CO2 + 5 H2O
C4H10 + 4.5 O2 4 CO + 5 H2O
-Minor reactions forming by- products like acetic or acrylic acids
C4H10 + 2.5 O2 2 CH3COOH + H2O
C4H10 + 2.5 O2 4/3 CH2CHCOOH + 7/3 H2O

Typical temperatures of reaction are between :

- Reactor (Salt) temperature: 400 - 430C.
- Catalyst temperature (Hot Spot): 430 - 460C
Separation
Reactor off-gas from the fixed bed reactor flows through a gas cooling system and then min.
50% of the Maleic anhydride is condensed in the partial condenser, the other cc. 45-50% feeds to
the scrubber and forms Maleic Acid (MAc) solution by reaction with treated Boiler Feed Water.

Recovery of MA
The molten pure Maleic Anhydride (product) is recovered from the condensed (called: crude)
Maleic Anhydride and Maleic Acid solution in a semi-automatic dehydrating-refining procedure.
Solvent for the dehydration is xylene. In case of higher capacity requirement the system is
divided to continuous dehydrating and batch refining systems.
Recovered heat of the exothermic reaction and back-cooling of the reaction gases are used for
steam generation. If the customer requires, the system can produce high pressure (HHP) steam,
which can be used for operation of the air compressor steam-turbine driver(s) or to produce
electric energy.

Off-gas treatment
The off-gas leaving the top of the scrubber contains not reacted n-butane and other flammable
and environmental polluter materials. The valuable n-butane can be partly used again as feed to
the reactor by installing an off-gas recycling system or the whole amount of off-gas can be
eliminated by burning away its flammable components while the generated heat can be used for
steam generation.

Solid Maleic Anhydride production unit

This part of the plant contains 1-4 Pastillator(s) depending on the required capacity. Each
Pastillator has a capacity of max. 12,500 MTPA solid Maleic Anhydride production. Pastillators
are equipped with several trays internally, which are cooled with cold water generated in a
refrigerator unit. Molten Maleic Anhydride drops onto the surface of trays and forms solid
Maleic Anhydride pastilles immediately on the cold surface. Solid pastilles are removed from the
trays by knifes and collected in a bin. An automatic packing system is weighing and dosing the

pastilles into 25 kgs plastic sacks, then forms 1 ton of palettes to be ready for supply out the final
MAn product.

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Environmental Analysis
From reaction, 2 one mole of MA is produced for each model of n-butane.
(50,000 t) x (2000 lb/t) = 10 x 107 lb MA
10x107 lb MA/98 = 1.02 x 106 lb/mole MA
On a molar basis the yield is 60% so,
1.02 x 106 lb/mole MA/.6 = 1.7 x 106 lb/mole of n-butane
The conversion of n-butane to MA is 85% so,
1.7 x 106 lb/mole of n-butane/.85 = 2.0 x 106 lb/mole of n-butane needed to produce 50,000 t of
MA.
2.0 x 106 lb/mole x 58 = 116x106 lbs of n-butane to produce 50,000 t of MA
116x106 lbs/ (2000lb/t) = 58,000 t n-butane needed
For n-butane the stoichiometric index = 58,000/50,000 = 1.16

In addition to reaction 2, there are undesired reactions 3 and 4. Since reaction 2 occurs 60% of
the time, these other two occur 40% of the time. Assume that each occurs 20% of the time.
From reaction 3, for each mole of n-butane that goes through this reaction, there are four moles
of CO2. Since 85% of the n-butane is not converted and since only 20% of the n-butane goes
through reaction 3, the number of moles of CO2 generated are:
(2.0 x 106 lb/mole of n-butane)(.85)(.2) = 0.34 x 106 moles CO2
0.34 x 106 moles CO2 x 44 = 14.96 x 106 lbs CO2
14.96 x 106 lbs CO2 /(2000lb/t) = 7.48 x 103 t CO2
For CO2 the stoichiometric index = 7,480/50,000 = 0.152
From reaction 4, for each mole of n-butane that goes through this reaction, there are four moles
of CO. Since 85% of the n-butane is not converted and since only 20% of the n-butane goes
through reaction 3, the number of moles of CO generated are:
(2.0 x 106 lb/mole of n-butane)(.85)(.2) = 0.34 x 106 moles CO
0.34 x 106 moles CO x 28 = 9.52 x 106 lbs CO
9.52 x 106 lbs CO /(2000lb/t) = 4.76 x 103t CO
Based on TLV
Environmental index = (1.16)(1/800) + (.095)(1/25) + (.152)(1/5000) + (1)(1/.1) = 10.00
Based on toxicity factors
Environmental index = (1)(10) = 10
For CO the stoichiometric index = 4,760/50,000 = 0.095
Waste emission source from chemical process
1. Waste streams from process units
2. Major equipment - vents on reactors, column separators, storage tanks, vacuum systems

3. Fugitive sources - large number of small releases from pumps, valves, fittings, flanges, open
pipes
4. Loading/unloading operations
5. Vessel clean out, residuals in drums and tanks
6. Secondary sources - emissions from wastewater treatment, other waste treatment operations,
on-site land applications of waste
7. Spend catalyst residues, column residues and tars, sludges from tanks, columns, and
wastewater treatment
8. Energy consumption - criteria air pollutants, traces of hazardous airpollutants, global warming
gases