Question

Increasing the contact time in oxidation of naphthalene yields better quality of phthalic anhydride.

(a) True

(b) False

This question was addressed to me in homework.

The doubt is from Synthetic Organic Chemical topic in chapter Synthetic Organic Chemical Industries of Chemical Technology

Answer 1

The correct answer is (a) True

Easiest explanation: A longer contact time of 10 seconds in a fluid bed catalytic reactor yields better product than a contact time of 0.1 – 0.4 seconds in a fixed bed multi tubular reactor. The yields are equivalent and almost no maleic acid if produced, thus giving very high purity phthalic anhydride product.