PEP Review 2001-9
Acrylic acid is commercially produced by the oxidation of propylene. Propylene
is used as the starting raw material. As an alternative, acrylic acid production
by propane oxidation is an attractive process because propane is much less
expensive than propylene. In this process, propane is catalytically oxydehydrogenated
to form a mixture of propylene and propane. The resulting mixture is used
directly in the conventional two-stage propylene oxidation process to form
crude acrylic acid. For this review, we evaluated the capital investment costs
and economics for production of acrylic acid by propane oxidation for a plant
capable of producing 265 million lb/yr of crude acrylic acid. We compared
the results to the traditional route of propylene oxidation to determine whether
the propane oxidation process is a competitive process. Based on our conceptual
design, capital investment costs for acrylic acid production by propane oxidation
are significantly higher than the conventional route. The total capital investment
cost is approximately 57% higher. Production cost for the propane oxidation
route is comparable to the conventional route only when the propane cost is
at most one-third that of propylene. Thus, the economic incentive for acrylic
acid production by the propane oxidation route is dependent on the price differential
between propylene and propane. Acrylic acid producers who may choose the propane
oxidation route are those with plants located in areas with abundant supply
of propane and little supply of traditional propylene.
By Susan L. Bell
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