A high-yield process to produce high-purity phenol and acetone from cumene with optional byproduct recovery of alpha methylstyrene (AMS) and acetophenone (AP).
Cumene is oxidized (1) with air at high efficiency (+95%) to produce cumene hydroperoxide (CHP), which is concentrated (2) and cleaved (3) under high-yield conditions (+99%) to phenol and acetone in the presence of an acid catalyst. The cleavage mixture is neutralized and fractionated to produce high-purity products (4–8), suitable for all applications. AMS is hydrogenated to cumene and recycled to oxidation or optionally recovered as a pure byproduct.
With AMS hydrogenation, 1.31 tons of cumene will produce 1 ton of phenol and 0.616 tons of acetone. This high-yield process produces very high-quality phenol and acetone products with very little heavy and light-end byproducts. With over 40 years of continuous technological development, the Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) phenol process features low cumene and energy consumptions, coupled with unsurpassed safety and environmental systems.
Licensor: Kellogg Brown & Root LLC
