Caprolactam Production from Benzene - Cost Analysis - Caprolactam E11A

Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of Caprolactam production from benzene The process examined involves the following steps: benzene is hydrogenated to cyclohexane; cyclohexane is oxidized to a mixture of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone; cyclohexanol is dehydrogenated to cyclohexanone; cyclohexanone undergoes an oximation reaction with hydroxilamine; and the oxime produced is rearranged to Caprolactam. Ammonium sulfate is also generated as by-product. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): (1) "Caprolactam", Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 7th edition (2) "Cyclohexane", Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 7th edition Keywords: Cyclohexanone, Cyclohexanol, Lactam Synthesis, Lactam Purification, Ammonium Sulfate Crystallization