Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Vol.119, 93-100, 2017
Design of a continuous gas-phase process for the production of hexafluoropropene oxide
The partial oxidation of hexafluoropropene (HFP) yields 2,2,3-trifluoro-3-trifluoromethyl oxirane (commonly known as hexafluoropropene oxide, HFPO), a highly reactive and versatile fluorochemical intermediate that is used in the manufacture of various high-performance organofluorine products. Most industrial methods of HFPO preparation involve the highpressure liquid-phase oxidation of HFP in the presence of chemical oxidizers and solvents. Processes that employ molecular oxygen as the oxidizing agent generally have a lower environmental impact. In this study, the design and analysis of a 500 tpa continuous gas-phase process for the epoxidation of HFP with molecular oxygen was carried out. A modular coil type reactor fabricated from drawn copper tubing is proposed to attain residence times up to 120 s which are required for acceptable levels of HFP conversion (70%) and HFPO yield (40%). The HFPO product is separated from the residual HFP through a novel sequence of CO2 gas stripping and conventional distillation steps. A final product having a purity of 99.8 mol% is obtained. The recovered HFP, which has a purity of 99.2 mol%, is subsequently recycled. The process unit operates at a HFP recycle ratio of 0.39. (C) 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.