Oxidation of n- Butane to Maleic Anhydride

Abstract

In this research, oxidation of n-butane to maleic anhydride (MA) over vanadium-phosphorus oxide(VPO)catalyst ,prepared in an organic medium, was investigated in a fixed bed reactor.A comparative study has been conducted between promoted(promoted with molybdenum) and unpromoted VPO catalysts. It was observed that the molybdenum(MO) increases the selectivity toward MA. Experiments showed that a catalyst having P/V atomic ratio equal to 1.1,Mo/V weight ratio of 0.08 ,give the maximum selectivity 98% at a temperature of 450–425°C and contact time1.28s (GHSV=2800 hr^-1 ) and an inlet n-butane concentration of 1% of air and n-butane mixture.