Adiabatic nitration has come to dominate mononitrobenzene (MNB) production, but has not yet had the same impact on MNT production.  The significant energy savings possible with adiabatic nitration versus the isothermal process are a strong incentive to change.  However, there are issues due to associated changes to the nitration and acid re-concentration process conditions that need to be understood before such a switch could successfully be made.  The process changes related to changing to adiabatic nitration and their potential impacts are discussed using information from the literature and some data from recent in-house pilot plant testing.  Some of the potentially impacted areas include: nitration rates, isomer distribution, by-product formation and recycled acid quality.  Some approaches to mitigating potential problems are discussed and, overall, the outlook is encouraging for the successful implementation of adiabatic nitration for MNT production.

Adiabatic nitration for mononitrotoluene (MNT) production

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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