EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PRODUCTION OF ANILINE FROM CATALYTIC HYDROGENATION OF NITROBENZENE .

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Nitroline Philippine Corporation (NPC) is the first company to manufacture aniline in
the Philippines. It is a company created with technology and product sustainability, helping the
socioeconomic and agriculture state in the country. It provides great leadership towards their
workers and shared-responsibility to take care of the environment while producing the highest
standard of Aniline.

NPC will produce aniline through hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. The raw materials
hydrogen and nitrobenzene are readily available inside the Philippines. The main equipment used in
this plant are the fluidized bed reactor which is operating at 350 C, continuous decanter, simple
continuous distillation column, and the steam distillation column. The plant has a capacity of
15,252.858 MTyear. The main consumers of aniline are the pharmaceutical plants.

Nitroline Philippines Corporation is located in Sta. Maria Industrial Park, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
The town is only a few hours away from Metro Manila. Laguna and Manila is where most of the target
market is located is 81.2 kilometers away from the location via North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

Nitroline Philippines Corporation will first be introducing aniline in the province where the
company is located, then to the neighboring provinces; the whole Philippines, to our neighboring
countries and then ultimately across continents. The aniline to be produced by Nitroline Philippines
Corporation will be coming from nitrobenzene and hydrogen gas which is readily available not only
in the Philippines but as well as neighboring Asian countries. The production process starts with the
feeding of raw materials into the fluidized bed reactor, decantation, distillation then packaging.

The success of our company will depend on its product quality that must satisfy the
customers expectation. If the company successfully meet the clients requirements, then the product
might be considered highly acceptable and of high quality. Therefore, the company is pledged to give
the customer high-quality of products by ensuring that the process on producing a product is well-
established and streamlined. The company will ensure that every product is at its best quality and
the raw materials meet the intended quality for processing, checking the specification of the product

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e.g. purity, density, etc. must be properly regulated and performing laboratory experiments to test if
the products quality is well within specifications. The company will implement Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP) to ensure that every tank of aniline produced contains quality liquid with purity of
not less than 99% and that will eventually become quality raw materials to our valued customers.

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CONSTRAINT ANALYISIS

ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS

Aniline products are used to manufacture a variety of end-products, ranging from

polyurethane foam, Kevlar aramid fiber, and pharmaceuticals. It is also used as an antioxidant,
activator, and accelerator in the rubber industry. The production cost of aniline by catalytic
hydrogenation is 82% lower compared to other processes.

The hydrogenation process provides an efficient recovery of high-purity aniline, which is

required in some applications. The major constraint is the import of aniline. Since, there are no
existing aniline plant here in the Philippines, it is an advantage for Nitroline Philippines Corporation
(NPC) to have the plant as one of the pioneer supplier of aniline in the country. Moreover, the
company will sell the product at a lower price and will create partnership to different industries to
supply their demand of aniline. However, there are still factors that can affect our profit:

1. Late Delivery of Raw Material Nitrobenzene

Late delivery of supplies will result to late production of aniline. This will affect the consumer and it
might force them to order from other plant outside the Philippines that supplies aniline. Our main
supplier of Nitrobenzene, which is the NECO Corporation is located in Tondo, Manila while our plant
is located in Sta. Maria, Bulacan. Traffic may cause the late delivery of supplies and because of that,
NPC must have enough nitrobenzene stored in the plant.

NPC will arrange a schedule with the suppliers- Linde and Neco, the time and date of delivery months
before the preferred date.

2. Aniline Plant Shutdown

In case of plant shutdown, some errors in the process or faulty in the equipment may be found during
the shutdown period, this will prolong the actual period of the shutdown that will also cause delay in
the production of aniline.

During shutdown period, process and instrumentation engineers will be required to work overtime
in the manufacturing site to monitor the workers and to immediately provide solutions to problem
that may occur.

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3. Putting up of another aniline plant

Since we are the only supplier of aniline here in the Philippines, our product will be of high demand
that will gain us high profit. Some company will have an idea of competing with our plant and in the
future, we can have more competitors in this industry.

NPC will advertise the product by providing brochures and having an improved website where
purchasing of the product will be easier. Building partnerships with our costumer will be an effective
way for them to become loyal to our company.

4. Delayed shipment of product to the consumer

In our projection, there will be high demand of aniline since we are the only supplier in the
Philippines. Shortage of delivery tanks and supplies will cause the delay of shipment.

NPC will provide more delivery tanks and organize a schedule of delivery for each consumer.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS

Due to day-to-day plant operation, potential environmental damage that may be resulted
from the leakage, spill or any plant accident was considered. These has been assessed into three
categories: (a) airborne emissions, (b) waste water effluent and (c) solid waste generation

A. AIRBORNE EMISSIONS:

1. Fluidized bed reactor (R-101) leakage

Airborne emissions may be due to some leakage in equipment, particularly our fluidized
reactor R-101 that is operating at high temperature, 350 C and high pressure 3.6 atm.

2. Error in purging hydrogen gas

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In hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, purge of hydrogen is required to avoid explosion of

equipment because of high pressure. But errors in purging hydrogen gas might occur and high
concentrations of this gas might be released to the environment and might cause an oxygen- deficient
environment.

Furthermore, the company is set to follow the standards set by the Republic Act No. 8749 (Philippine
Clean Air Act of 1999) regarding the allowable amount of emissions to the air.

B. WASTEWATER EFFLUENT:

1. Traces of aniline that will be released from stripping column T-302

There will be minimal trace of aniline that will be released from the stripping column T-302.
This minimal trace of aniline can be collected to higher amounts that can affect aquatic animals and
other organisms.

2. Possible leakage in the continuous decanter LS-201

Leakage in the decanter that contains the aniline-rich layer can be possible. Concentrated aniline is
highly toxic if released to the environment.

Wastewater emissions will be the most abundant in the plant but available treatment facilities will
be utilized. It is to ensure the compliance to the standards set by the Republic Act No. 9275 (Clean
Water Act of 2004), Presidential Decree No. 984 (Pollution Control Law of 1976) and DENR
Administrative Order No. 90-35 (Revised Effluent Regulations of 1990).

C. SOLID WASTES GENERATION

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Solid wastes produced by the company will come from the office trash and kitchen wastes.
Segregation of the garbage will be highly practiced by providing separate trash bins for
biodegradable and non biodegradable materials. The company is set to follow the Presidential
Decree No. 856 Sanitation Code of the Philippines that covers the entire solid and liquid waste
disposal.

HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSTRAINTS

The raw materials used in production of aniline are highly toxic. To maintain high safety standards,
compliance with the laws and regulations are very important in putting up a business. Manufacturing
companies face an additional challenge because of having the potential to keeping the employees and
consumers a safe working area and harmonize working condition.

However, there will be some factors that affect the health and safety of the employees:

A. HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS

1. Handling of hydrogen gas

Hydrogen gas can cause explosion if not handled properly. Hydrogen gas is light-sensitive
and must be store in a light-resistance container. In case of inhalation of hydrogen gas, the employee
might suffer from suffocation that can lead to death.

2. Handling of Aniline

Aniline is very hazardous in case of skin contact. Leakage of aniline in the container is
possible and in case of absorption by the skin, this can lead to systemic damage.

B. INTENSIVE EQUIPMENT(S)

1. Fluidized bed Reactor operating at high temperature and pressure

Since our reactor is operating at high temperature and pressure, employees that will be
working near the equipment will experience extreme heat and direct contact with the equipment can
cause suffocation and burns.

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NPC will ensure every employee to provide a good and safe working place as per its goal to
be accredited by ISO certifications. This is one of the priority of the company. The presence of the
machines and raw materials make adequate safety procedures both legally and mandatory and
ethically necessary. The NPC will stick to the Labor Code of the Philippines when it comes to Health,
Safety and Social Welfare Benefits.

a. Dental and Medical problems

- Some employee cannot perform very well and wisely if they have dental problems. As
well as some cannot lift a heavy load with these kinds of problems. As well as there will
also be cases that some employees might not be feeling well because of over-fatigue or
might caught some virus along the way. Such kinds are colds, sore eyes, coughs and the
like. This may also be the source of the epidemic effect inside the plant. These diseases
may decrease the ability of the employee to perform well.

b. Incapability of the third-party to do a first-aid activity

- Employees hired by the company might have underwent trainings and seminars
regarding safety awareness and first-aid activity. The third-party or the contractors may
not be well-trained for unexpected incidents like when someone is having a heart attack
inside and must undertake CPR.

c. Not Wearing of PPE

- Even though provided with the proper PPE, the discipline of the employee matters. Even
though engineers wear them properly, the third part might not as well take this

MANUFACTURABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY CONSTRAINTS

NPC would be the first company to be producing aniline in the Philippines to provide our
customers with high quality standards of the product. It is very important that the company have an
imaginative and ingenious ability to anticipate potentially the situations that can be hazardous and
all the factors affecting the product and make the best design decision to address realistic constraint
issues. The code of standards for design must be implemented because it would tell us how long will
the company stay and manufacture high quality products.

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At some point, though assumptions might be close and simulated, that will not guarantee the
possibility to make use of the equipment.

1. Reactor (R-101) conversion

Assumed conversion of nitrobenzene to aniline might not be met because of some errors in the
reactor. The periodical changing of the catalyst might affect the conversion. If at any case the assumed
yield will not make it or more than what we expected, there will be residues and the plant process
will not be maximized.

2. Natural phenomena that can affect our equipment

Our columns like distilling column 1 (T-301) and stripping column (T-302( is approximately 20
meters high. Its possibility to withstand natural phenomena are not that sure most probably the
storms and typhoons and earthquakes.

3. Cost of Nitrobenzene

On the marketing part, the raw material is nitrobenzene and hydrogen gas. Nitrobenzene is
locally supplied by the Neco Philippines Corporation. And also, hydrogen gas is supplied by different
gas producing companies in the Philippines. Fluctuation of the nitrobenzene in the global market
might as well affect the cost of the nitrobenzene in the Philippines regarding its demand cost value.

The process and control system is quite expensive but reduces the employees working on the
production. A malfunction may stop the production.

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TRADE-OFFS
Nitroline Philippines Corporation shall be manufacturing aniline from hydrogenation of
nitrobenzene. The company wants to utilize its resources by having a maximum output with
minimum cost. One of the companys goals is to produce high-value of aniline that falls under the
standards locally and internationally. Productions of aniline through various processes are being
practiced to determine which will give most profit to the company.

Catalyst Copper Nickel

Maximum Yield 99.5% 99%
Operating Temperature 250-300C 300-450C
Cost / Ton Php 60,000 Php 50,000
Amount of Catalyst per Year 135,110.88 kg 135,110.88 kg
Total Cost of Catalyst per Year Php 8,106,652.80 Php 6,755,544.00
The catalyst can be
Lower temperature and
Advantages regenerated with air
pressure requirement
at 250-350C.
The catalyst must be replaced
Disadvantages Catalytic activity
periodically.

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slowly decreases due to

carbon deposition.

Trade-off analysis: Nickel Catalyst

Hydrogenation of nitrobenzene was worked with nickel sulfide catalysts at 300C-450C in a
fixed bed. The activation of the hydrogenation catalysts with Cu or Cr, and the use of different
supports and catalyst sulfidization methods with sulfate, H2S or CS2 all belong to the expertise of
various aniline manufacturing firms. The selectivity to aniline is more than 99%. The catalytic activity
slowly decreases due to carbon deposition. However, the catalyst can be regenerated with air at 250-
350C and subsequent H2 treatment. Similar processes are operated with Cu on pumice, by ICI with
Cu, Mn, or Fe catalysts with various modifications involving other metals, and with a Cu-Cr system.

Standard: Copper Catalyst

Copper catalyst for hydrogenation is commercially available, however, useful only at elevated
temperatures and pressures (250-300 C/250-300 atm). Copper catalysts are known to have no
effect on benzene ring. The gas-phase hydrogenation of nitrobenzene with a fixed-bed catalyst is used
in processes from BASF. The hydrogenation is conducted at 270-290 C and 1-5 bar in the presence
of a large excess of hydrogen (H2:Nitrobenzene=ca. 9:1). The high heat of reaction is removed by a
cooling system which is built into the fluidized bed. The selectivity to aniline is 99.5%; the
nitrobenzene conversion is quantitative. The catalyst must be regenerated periodically.
Total Amount of Catalyst per year
1 / 7200
2814.81 6 5 2 = 135,110.88
150 6 5 2 1
Total Cost of Catalyst per year Copper catalyst
1 60,000 , , .
135,110.88 =
1000
Total Cost of Catalyst per year Nickel catalyst
1 50,000 , , .
135,110.88 =
1000

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Conclusion
By checking on various factors affecting the reaction, we can conclude that we can save up to
Php 1,351,108.8 worth of catalyst if we are going to utilize the nickel catalyst. We can also save a lot
of our profit over nickel catalyst because we can regenerate the catalysts with just introduction of air
at a certain temperature. However in doing so, we are elevating the operating temperature and
pressure inside our reactor which would cost us more in energy consumption in the long run.
Considering the yield both catalysts would give us, copper catalyst is still the best option. We
therefore conclude, copper catalyst might not have the upper hand in the purchasing cost but will
give us more aniline than the nickel catalyst.

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