Acetaldehyde Production

Group 22
Cheranesh G. (150020109)
Dhrumil S. (150020009)
Harsh P. (150110013)
Jai prakash G. (150020039)
Prajakta G. (150020102)
About Acetaldehyde
● Acetaldehyde/Ethanal is one of most used organic chemicals in the world.
● It is a colourless,miscible with water and flammable substance with the
chemical formula C2H4O .
● Naturally found and also produced on a large scale in chemical industry.
● It is a common substance naturally found in coffee,ripe
fruits,breads,vegetables,gasoline,cigarette smoke and diesel exhaust.
● The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has listed
acetaldehyde as a Group 1 carcinogen Acetaldehyde is "one of the most
frequently found air toxins with cancer risk greater than one in a million .”
Physical Properties

Properties Values

Molar Mass 44.05 g mol ^-1

Density 0.784 g cm^-3 (20° C)

MP -127.37 °C

BP 20.2 °C
Uses of Acetaldehyde
Globally top three revenue-generating products of Acetaldehyde are-
1) Pyridine
a) Acetaldehyde with ammonia leads to the formation of pyridine
b) Pyridine is used as precursors for many agrochemical and pharmaceutical
products, widely used as solvent and reagent in reactions
2) Pentaerythritol
a) Formed by the condensation of acetaldehyde with formaldehyde
b) Pentaerythritol is used in various products such as alkyd resins, rosin esters,
synthetic lubricants, antioxidants, and explosives
3) Acetic acid
a) Produced by oxidation of acetaldehyde, it is used as a reagent to produce various
compounds such as vinyl acetate monomers and esters
b) In the form of vinegar, it finds application in foods and beverages
Industrial grades of Acetaldehyde
Grade Purity

00070 Acetaldehyde Anhydrous, ≥ 99.5%

00071 Acetaldehyde reagentPlus, ≥ 99.0%

W200336 Acetaldehyde Natural, ≥ 99%, FCC, FG

W200301 Acetaldehyde ≥99%, FCC

Specifications-
1) Colour - practically colourless
2) Acetaldehyde - more than 99.5 wt %
3) Acid (as acetic acid) - less than 0.1 wt %
4) Water- less than 0.02 wt %
5) Chlorine - less than 30 mg/kg
6) Dry residue - less than 10 mg/kg
Global Market
The acetaldehyde market is predicted to grow to $2 Bn by 2024(CAGR = 6.3%)
The global production capacity is expected to be 1.4 Mn T.P.A. by 2022.
Asia continues to be major consumer of acetaldehyde

Factors driving growth :

1. Increasing demand from food & beverage, paper & pulp, pharmaceuticals,
waste water treatment.
2. Increasing use of acetaldehyde in derivatives such as pyridines

Challenges :
Phasing out of acetic acid production from acetaldehyde
China is the largest consumer of acetaldehyde and so it also has significantly
increased its production from a couple of decades back
Prices have been calculated using UN Comtrade data providing the worth and
volume of acetaldehyde exported from India
Top players in the market :
1. Celanese Corp.
This firm is among the leading producers of acetaldehyde and apart from it
also manufactures a wide array of chemicals, fertilizers etc.
Acetaldehyde is produced in its Frankfurt facility.
2. LCY Chemical
The only acetaldehyde producer in Taiwan also manufactures performance
plastics and solvent products like ketones, acetone etc from ethylene.
3. EuroChem
Acetaldehyde is produced at its Nevinnomysskiy Azot plant in Russia which is
also the largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers in Russia.
Typical plant capacities in India
COMPANY NAME CAPACITY (TPA)

Kumaka Industries Ltd., Ankleshwar, 5400

Gujarat.

Laxmi Organic Industries Ltd., 4800

Maharashtra.

Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., 7500

Muzafarpur, Bihar.

Pentokey Organy (India) Pvt. Ltd. 3600

Maharashtra

Trichy Distilleries & Chemicals Ltd., Trichy 6000

Kap chem Ltd. Bangalore. 3500

Proposed plant capacity
● In India, typical plant capacities average out at ~5000 TPA
● With slow increase in demand, keeping the plant capacity at the average
capacity might prove to be enough.
● Also, major plants use the acetaldehyde in-house for production of other
chemicals having significant demand. Thus, there is a need to keep the plant
production close to these chemical demands.
● Hence decided plant capacity: 5000 TPA
Production from Ethene - I
Production from Ethene - II
Production from Ethanol - I
Production from Ethanol - II
Production from Acetylene - I
Production from Acetylene - II
Comparative analysis of Processes - I
Parameters Ethene Process Ethanol Process Acetylene Process

Cost Low Medium High

Conversion 35-45% 25% 50%

Environmental Effect Ethylene is produced No harmful effect on The production of

in the petrochemical environment acetaldehyde from
industry and is hence acetylene includes a
not classified as a catalyst containing
green product mercury which is
toxic

It is evident that using acetylene won’t be a viable option given the high costs and
associated environmental risks.
Comparative analysis of Processes - II
Parameters Ethene Process Ethanol Process

Process yield 95% 90%

Raw Material Cost < $1/kg product < $1/kg product

Complexity Simpler Complex

Catalyst regeneration Palladium based Silver catalyst can last

catalyst can be easily up to one year
regenerated within the
plant

... Selected process: Ethene process (Wacker-Hoechst process)

Uses of Byproducts of Ethene process
● Ethyl chloride
○ Manufacture of painkiller
● Crotonaldehyde
○ Manufacture of sorbic acid, a food preservative
○ Manufacture of Trimethylhydroquinone, precursor to Vitamin E
● Acetic Acid + chloroacetaldehydes + water
○ Waste Water
Benefits of Ethene process versus other processes
● Abundance of raw materials
● Technically simple
● High selectivity (94%)
● Cost-effective
● Safer than other processes
Limitations of Ethene process against others
● Low single-pass conversion w.r.t Acetylene process (35%)
● Need for pure oxygen
● Need to import ethylene
Location for plant: India
● Cheap labour
● Lax environmental norms
● Closer to major global markets (China, India, Japan, Western Europe
collectively responsible for >60% world consumption)
● Lower initial capital investment
● Presence of industrial hubs which allow easier and cheaper access to raw
materials and required utilities
Existing plants for Ethene process
● Accounts for 85% of the worldwide production capacity for acetaldehyde
● Some International plants
○ LCY Chemicals plant, Taiwan
○ Celanese Corp. plant, Frankfurt
● Some Indian plants
○ Kumaka Industries, Ankleshwar
○ Pentokey Organy, Ratnagiri
Thank you