Progress in the research and development of p-xylene liquid phase oxidation process

The process of p-xylene liquid phase oxidation to produce purified terephthalic acid (PTA) involves a series of liquid phase radical reactions, chemical absorption, reactive crystallization, and evaporation. A commercial PTA production flow sheet includes a number of unit operations, which construct a complex process system. In this paper, a review of research and development (R&D) works on PTA process carried out in Zhejiang University during recent years is introduced. The works cover the oxidation and crystallization kinetics, gas-liquid mass transfer and evaporation, reactor modeling, database development, novel reactor design, process modeling, simulation, and optimization. The author emphasizes the viewpoint through this case study that chemical reaction engineering should be developed to process system engineering to extend its scope, and particular attention should be paid on reactor and process modeling.