1. BY
ANAY NILESH KACHARIA
&
GURUPRASAD VENKATAKRISHNA RAO

3. IMP NOTE
• IN SULPHONATION SO3 REACTS WITH
ORGANIC MOLECULE TO PRODUCE SULPHUR
AND CARBON BOND.
• SULFATION ON OTHER HAND IS FORMATION
OF SULPHUR-OXYGEN-CARBON BOND.

4. SULPHONATION
• SO3 is an aggressive electrophilic reagent that
rapidly reacts with any organic compound
containing an electron donor group.
• Sulfonation is a difficult reaction to perform
on an industrial scale because the reaction is
rapid and highly exothermic, releasing
approximately 380 kJ/kg SO3 (800 BTUs per
pound of SO3) reacted.

5. SULPHONATION
• Most organic compounds form a black char on
contact with pure SO3 due to the rapid
reaction and heat evolution.
• Additionally, as shown in Figure, the reactants
increase in viscosity between 15 and 300
times as they are converted from the organic
feedstock to the sulfonic acid.

6. SULPHONATION
 THIS LARGE INCREASE IN
VISCOSITY MAKES HEAT REMOVAL
DIFFICULT. THE HIGH VISCOSITY OF
THE FORMED PRODUCTS REDUCES
THE HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT
FROM THE REACTION MASS.
 EFFECTIVE COOLING OF THE
REACTION MASS IS ESSENTIAL
BECAUSE HIGH TEMPERATURES
PROMOTE SIDE REACTIONS THAT
PRODUCE UNDESIRABLE BY-
PRODUCTS.
 ALSO, PRECISE CONTROL OF THE
MOLAR RATIO OF SO3 TO ORGANIC
IS ESSENTIAL BECAUSE ANY EXCESS
SO3, DUE TO ITS REACTIVE
NATURE, CONTRIBUTES TO SIDE
REACTIONS AND BY-PRODUCT
FORMATION.

8. Air supply system
• Process requires Dry and cool air .
• Air should be deficient in any kind of
disturbance
• Control valves sort out disturbance problems
• Air chiller cools the filtered air
• Regenerated air can be recycled

9. Air
supply
system

10. Sulfur feed sysytem
• Control of sulfur to sulfur burning unit is
important since that is going to effect mole
ratio in main unit
• Sulfur feed system ensures that.
• Melting of sulfur takes place here
• Entire sulfur feed system is jacketed
considering freezing point of sulphur is 112.60
C.

12. Sulfur burning unit
• Consist of atomized sulfur burning.
• Sulfur dioxide leaving burner is cooled to 4200 C
& is passed through vanadium pentoxide catalytic
converter where SO2 is converted to SO3 with 99
% efficiency.
• SO3 is initially cooled in a double pipe cooler by
regenerated air.
• Finally cooled by heat exchanger to ambient
temperature.
• Inlet mist eliminator eliminates any residual
oleum.

16. Falling Film Reactor

17. Common Types
Annular Falling Film
Multitube Falling Film Reactor
Reactor

18. • It employs interchangeable
organic metering flanges.
• The mole ratio control is
maintained on a micro scale
throughout the sulfonator.
• Cooling jackets on the reactor
remove most of the heat of the
reaction.
• The additional recycle system is
a huge benefit.
• The cooling process reduces the
amount of time of holding
sulfonic acid at elevated
temperatures.

19. • It consists of a number of vertical
tubes as arranged in a shell and
tube heat exchanger
• The tubes are generally 25mm
internal diameter and about 6m in
length.
• Generally a reactor with 70 tubes
would have a capacity of about
3 tonnes of surfactant per hour.
• The residence time from the top of
the reactor to the neutralizer is
between 2-3 minutes.

20. Features of a FFR
• Various configurations of Feedstock entry.
• Thin distribution of liquid olefin to prevent localized overheating.
• Short residence time owing to its instantaneous reaction completion.

21. Points to Remember
• Temperature gradient must be sufficent to control the extremely
vigorous intial exotherm to avoid charring.
• Air temperature should be below olefin feed.
• Film thickness has to be maintained in the order of (0.001-0.01 inches)
• Mixture of air and S03 should contain 2%-4% of S03
• Here stoichometry plays a very significant role.

22. EFFECT OF MOLE RATIOS ON 1,4 DIOXANE CONTENT

23. SO3 absorber
• Is capable of treating the total output from
the SO3 generation system to form 98%
sulfuric acid.
• It is a convenience in plant startup , shutdown
and product changeover. It is also
recommended in situations where frequent
power failures can interrupt production.
• Generally used when alcohol feedstock are
available in plant.

25. Neutralizer
• The neutralizer combines sulfonic acid or
organo-sulfuric acid with a neutralizing agent,
additives, and dilutent (water).
• A recycle loop circulates neutral slurry through
a heat exchanger to remove heat of
neutralization, mixing and pumping.
• Buffer is added to maintain pH.

27. Effluent Gas Treatment System

28. References
• Kirk & othmer , 3rd edition
• www.chemithon.com
• www.ballestra.org
• www.google.com ( Images )
• Chemistry and technology of surfactants by
Richard farn