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Studies on para ‐selectivity and yield enhancement in zeolite catalyzed toluene nitration
Author(s) -
Sreedhar I.,
Reddy K. Suresh Kumar,
Ramakrishna M.,
Kulkarni S. J.,
Raghavan K.V.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.20016
Subject(s) - nitration , toluene , catalysis , selectivity , nitric acid , zeolite , chemistry , yield (engineering) , dispersion (optics) , inorganic chemistry , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , metallurgy , physics , optics , engineering
The nitration of toluene using solid acid catalyst is carried out in batch and semi‐batch reactors with or without continuous water withdrawal. The effect of process parameters viz., nature of catalyst, agitation speed, nitric acid‐toluene dispersion morphology, catalyst to toluene ratio, temperature, nitric acid dosing and boil‐up rates (BRs) on overall conversions, and para ‐selectivity is investigated. The micro‐reaction environment around the catalyst particle and its influence on lattice aluminum transformation to achieve improved para ‐selectivity has received special attention. These studies have established the importance of dispersion morphology of reactants and microenvironment around catalyst particles for achieving preferred conversion and para ‐selectivity in toluene nitration.