Estudo técnico-econômico preliminar da produção de ciclo-hexano pelo método IFP de produção

Abstract

Cyclohexane is a non-polar cycloalkane and highly combustible, which has as main application the production of adipic acid, and nylon 6 and nylon 6,6, polymers that are important to textile industry, thread fabrication, bristles, rubbers and special tissues. Eventually, cyclohexane can be used as solvent for oils, waxes and fats. The USA has always been the highlight as major producers of cyclohexane, leadership increasingly threatened by the rising Chinese petrochemical industry and the whole Southeast of Asia. Brazil, although having two chemical companies that stand out in the production of the hydrocarbon, is still quite dependent of imports, fact that disfavors market balance and makes the final product nylon-based more expensive. Previously, cyclohexane was extracted by petroleum distillation, in a mass fraction of about 0,01% to 0,1%. With the rise of the demand, there was the need of producing it in a way that it is the main product of a chemical process. One of the process most currently used is a Franch-based process technology, developed by IFP (Institut Français du Pétrole), that consists on benzene hydrogenation, saturating it to cyclohexane. This work made a technical preliminary analysis, including global mass balance, sizing of the reactors and the separation vessels, process control suggestion, and HAZOP analysis. Also, it was part of this work a preliminary economic analysis of capital investment of the equipment and installations. The production process has attention points regarding to safety, especially in one of the reactors, and regarding to the exposure of the components and gases emission. The payback, considering a high interest rate (13,25%) due to the current high SELIC tax is about 14 years, but can be a shorter time if the SELIC tax decreases and/or the price of cyclohexane rises.