Reactor System for Toluene Nitration

"The nitration of aromatic hydrocarbons is used to generate a wide variety of chemical intermediates. The nitration of toluene produces the three isomers, ortho-, meta-, and para- mononitrotoluene. The meta-mononitrotoluene is the source of Red Waterpollution during TNT production. Research into the production of mononitrotoluene (MNT) is focused on the production of the para and the ortho isomers, without the formation of the meta-isomer. The Army has developed a solid-acid catalyzed method for thenitration of toluene that produces high yields of para-mononitrotoluene.In Phase I, TDA will design, operate and obtain data on a continuous flow reactor that will help us design a complete toluene nitration process based on the Army's new solid acid catalyst. TDA will design and operate a continuous flow reactor in ourlaboratory and will perform experiments to determine the rate of reaction and the mass transfer coefficients. In the Phase I option, we will begin the scale up for Phase II using the kinetic and mass transfer data obtained in Phase I. Our commercial partner is one of the leading producers of dinitrotoluene, producing 1.5 billion pounds of the chemical per year totaling over $0.5 billion/year, mainly for use in the polyurethane industry. The successful development of a reactor and aprocess for shape selective nitration has a significant commercial impact on the chemical industry as evidenced by the revenue streams for t