Evaluation of hydrogenation process for the production of hydrogen peroxide in a chemical company

The present work consisted on the improvement in the hydrogenation process in a chemical company for the production of peroxide of hydrogen (H2O2), by means of the reformulation of a chemical solution in base on antraquinona, The influence of the variables that concern the process were evaluated, best operative conditions were decided, the yield was analyzed and the economic feasibility was estimated based in the new established conditions. The experimental part was developed in four stages, in the first one the working solution was hydrogenated in a catalytic reactor on pilot scale. In the second one, working solution was oxidized. In the third one, the extraction of the H2O2 was made with phosphoric acid diluted to 2% (H3PO4) and in the last stage the titulation of the H2O2 was made by permanganate of potassium (KMnO4). The most significant variables reported by the experimental factorial design were: the concentration of water, of EAQ, of NOC and the interaction between the concentration of water, Shellsol and NOC. Using the program QSB of linear programming it was determined that the chemical composition that achieved higher degree of hydrogenation was: 1,8g/L of water, 20g/L of EAQ, 700,499g/L of Shellsol, 155,516g/L of NOC and 27,6g/L of TOF.