Oxidation

Abstract

Oxidation processes, both destructive and constructive, are of enormous importance in industry. Destructive oxidation, evidenced by corrosion of metals, deterioration of paint, rubber, and plastics, burning of forests and structures, and the various objectionable effects noted in chemical processing, represents a force to be combatted. Constructive oxidation plays an important role in the conversion of hydrocarbons to useful chemicals, the transformation of chemical intermediates to more desirable compounds and the controlled utilization of combustion energy. It represents a force to be directed and controlled for economic purposes. If any area of oxidative processing were to be singled out for attention, it would be that represented by conversion of hydrocarbons to useful organic chemicals both because of the scale of present exploitation and the enormous prospects for the future. Products such as phthalic anhydride, maleic anhydride, ethylene oxide, adipic acid, acrolein, aliphatic aldehydes and acids, certain hydroperoxides, gas mixtures for synthesis of hydrocarbons, oxygenated organic compounds, and ammonia, and others are currently produced by oxidation of hydrocarbons, some on a very large scale. Since there is always room for improvement in yield and reduction of cost, a steady stream of research and development effort is being poured into this segment of the chemical process industry. Future prospects lie in the adaptation of processing to new raw materials for products currently made from raw materials of limited supply—for example, oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons other than naphthalene to phthalic anhydride, oxidation of hydrocarbons for production of chemicals usually made by other routes—-for example, oxidation of propylene to acrolein, manufacture of hydrogen peroxide and other peroxides via hydrogen or hydrocarbon oxidation; formation of ethylene and acetylene from hydrocarbons by oxidative dehydrogenation or autothermal heating; and brand-new areas of development not yet described in the technical literature. © 1951, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.