Process for producing hydrogen peroxide

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10793433-B2
Application number	US-201214350820-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2012
Priority date	Oct 11, 2011
Publication date	Oct 6, 2020
Grant date	Oct 6, 2020

Abstract

A process for manufacturing hydrogen peroxide by an anthraquinone autoxidation process (AO-process) comprising two alternate (essential) steps of: (a) hydrogenation of a working solution in a hydrogenation unit in the presence of a catalyst, wherein such working solution contains at least one alkylanthraquinone dissolved in at least one organic solvent, to obtain at least one corresponding alkylanthrahydroquinone compound; and (b) oxidation of the at least one alkylanthrahydroquinone compound to obtain hydrogen peroxide in an oxidation unit; and further comprising the step of: (c) extracting the hydrogen peroxide formed in the oxidation step in an extraction unit, wherein the units of step (a) to (c), optionally together with further ancillary units as appropriate, constitute a hydrogen peroxide production site, wherein one or more of said units are equipped with one or more sensors for monitoring one or more AO-process parameters at the hydrogen peroxide production site, said sensors being interconnected with one or more first computers at the hydrogen peroxide production site, said first computers being linked via a communication network to one or more second computers in a control room being remote from the hydrogen peroxide production site, and said control room being remotely controlling such hydrogen peroxide production site.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process for manufacturing hydrogen peroxide for use in an industrial end use application, comprising:
(a) catalytically hydrogenating at least one alkylanthraquinone, wherein the at least one alkylanthraquinone is present in the form of a working solution comprising the at least one alkylanthraquinone dissolved in at least one organic solvent, to obtain at least one corresponding alkylanthrahydroquinone;
(b) oxidizing the at least one alkylanthrahydroquinone to obtain :hydrogen peroxide;
(c) extracting the hydrogen peroxide formed in step (b) of the process from the working solution with water to form an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide and recycling the working solution from step (b) of the process to step (a) of the process;
(d) monitoring one or more process parameters of one or more of steps (a), (b), and (c) of the process; and
(e) controlling one or more of steps (a), (b)and (c) of the process based on the one or more monitored process parameters,

wherein:
the industrial end use application is located at a first site, steps (a), (b), and (c) of the process are performed at the first site in a reactor system having a production capacity of hydrogen peroxide of up to 20 kilo tons per year,
steps (d) and (e) are performed remotely from a control site and the remote control site is different from and located at a distance from the first site,
replacement of the working solution and the catalyst of steps (a), (b), and (c) is performed independently from each other and periodically, and
steps (d) and (e) include the remote operational control of the AO-process chemistry.

2. The manufacturing process according to claim 1 , wherein steps (a), (b), and (c) of the process are performed in a reactor system having a production capacity of hydrogen peroxide of from 2 to 15 kilo tons per year.

3. The manufacturing process according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more process parameters comprise one or more process parameters selected from the group consisting of density, viscosity, catalyst activity, acidity, purity, concentration, and hydrogen peroxide productivity.

4. The manufacturing process according to claim 1 , wherein steps (a) to (c) of the process are performed in a reactor system that is equipped with one or more sensors for monitoring one or more process parameters of the process.

5. The manufacturing process according to claim 1 , wherein:
the replacement or regeneration of the working solution is performed in response to said one or more process parameters.

6. The manufacturing process according to claim 1 , wherein said working solution is remotely operationally controlled to minimize formation and accumulation of non- active or potentially hazardous by-products of steps (a), (b), and (c) of the process.

7. The manufacturing process according to claim 6 , wherein said working solution is remotely operationally controlled:
by means of a near infra-red (NIR) spectroscopy on-line analyzer, and/or
by means of a refractive index meter used for remotely operating and controlling the extraction of the hydrogen peroxide from the working solution in step (c) of the process.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution obtained from step (c) comprises from 1 to 15 percent by weight hydrogen peroxide.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the extracting in step (c) is performed in an extraction column.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the extracting in step (c) is performed counter-currently.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the extracting in step (c) is performed counter-currently.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution obtained from step (b) contains a predetermined dilute concentration of hydrogen peroxide and is directly utilized in the industrial end use application.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the one or more monitored process parameters are selected from the group consisting of catalytic activity, quality of the working solution, quality of the quinone working compounds, and byproduct formation.

14. The process of claim 1 , wherein the replacement or regeneration of the working solution of steps (a), (b), and (c) is only performed after continuous operation for at least 6 months.

15. The process of claim 1 , wherein reactivate of the catalyst of step (a) is only performed after continuous operation for at least 3 months.

16. The process of claim 15 , wherein reactivation of the catalyst of step (a) is only performed after continuous operation for at least 6 months.

17. The process of claim 1 , wherein regeneration of the working solution of steps (a), (h). and (c) is only performed after continuous operation for at least 3 months.

Assignees

• Solvay

Inventors

• Vandenbussche Alain
• Dhaese Patrick Markus
• Bloomfield Stephen
• Janssens Francine

Classifications

• C01B15/023 Primary

  by the alkyl-anthraquinone process · CPC title