MXPA99011120A - Method for preparing melamine - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for preparing melamine from urea via a high-pressure process in which solid melamine is obtained by transferring the melamine melt coming from the reactor to a vessel where the melamine melt is cooled with an evaporating cooling medium. The melamine melt comes from the melamine reactor at a temperature between the melting point of melamine and 450°C and is sprayed into a cooling vessel, via spraying means, having an ammonia environment with an increased ammonia pressure and cooled by means of an evaporating cooling medium to form melamine powder. The melamine melt is thereby converted into melamine powder having a temperature of 270°C or below after which the ammonia pressure is released and the melamine powder is cooled, at least for part of the cooling range, by the powder being set in motion mechanically and being cooled directly or indirectly and, if necessary, the melamine powder is cooled further.

Description

METHOD FOR PREPARING MELAMINE DESCRIPTIVE MEMORY The invention relates to a method for preparing melamine from urea by means of a high pressure process in which solid melamine is obtained by transferring the molten melamine material coming from the reactor to a vessel where the molten material of the melamine is cooled. melamine with an evaporator cooling medium. Said method is shown, among others, in EP-A-747366 and describes a high pressure process for preparing melamine from urea. In particular, EP-A-747366 describes how the urea is pyrolyzed in a reactor, operating at a pressure of about 10.34 to 24.13 MPa and at a temperature of about 354 to 454 ° C, to produce a reactor product. This reactor product, which contains liquid melamine, C02 and NH3, is transferred under pressure as a mixed stream to a separator. In this separator, which is maintained at virtually the same pressure and temperature as the reactor, the product of the reactor is separated into a gas stream and a liquid stream. The gaseous stream contains mainly waste gases of C02 and NH3 and melamine vapor. The liquid stream mainly comprises a melamine melt material. The gas stream is transferred to a purification unit, while the liquid stream is transferred to a cooling unit of the product.

* S2 &B * t! In the purification unit, which operates at almost identical temperature and pressure conditions «- to the conditions of the reactor, the gaseous current is purified with molten urea. The heat transfer that is obtained in the purification unit preheats the molten urea and cools the gas stream to a temperature of about 177 to 232 ° C. The molten urea also purifies the gas stream to remove the melamine vapor from the waste gases. The preheated fused urea, together with the melamine that was cleaned from the waste gases C02 and NH3, is then fed to the reactor. In the product cooling unit, the melamine melt is cooled and solidified with a liquid cooling medium to produce a high purity melamine solid product without the need for further purification. The preferred liquid cooling medium is that which forms a gas at the temperature of the melamine melt and the pressure in the cooling unit of the product. EP-A-747366 identifies liquid ammonia as the preferred liquid cooling medium with the pressure in the product cooling unit above 41.4 bar. Although, according to EP-A-747366 the purity of the melamine solid product obtained using the described process was greater than 99% by weight, this degree of purity has been difficult to maintain continuously on a commercial scale. The inability to maintain a purity greater than 99% by weight is a drawback that makes the melamine produced less suitable for higher demand applications, particularly melamine-formaldehyde resins which are used for laminates and / or coatings. The object of the present invention is to obtain an improved method for preparing melamine from urea, wherein the melanin is obtained directly from the product of the reactor as a dry powder having a high degree of purity. Particularly, the object of the present invention is to obtain an improved high pressure process for preparing melamine from urea, wherein the melamine is obtained directly from the liquid melamine melt material as a dry powder having a high degree of purity by means of Cooling. The Applicant has discovered that the high purity melamine can be produced continuously from the melamine melt material that comes from the melamine reactor, which has a temperature between the melting point of melamine and about 450 ° C, by spraying the molten material of melamine by means of spraying in a container and cooling it by contact with an evaporating cooling medium in an ammonia atmosphere with an increased ammonia pressure thereby obtaining melamine powder having a temperature of less than 270 ° C, releasing the pressure of the ammonia and cooling the melamine powder, at least in part of the cooling scale, by agitating the powder mechanically and cooling, either directly, indirectly or by some combination. An increased ammonia pressure means an ammonia pressure above 1 MPa, preferably above 1.5 MPa, and most preferably above 4.5 MPa and still most preferably above 6 MPa. The ammonia pressure is less than 40 MPa, preferably less than 25 MPa and most preferably less than 11 MPa. Melamine powder has poor fluidization and flow characteristics, and a low temperature equalization coefficient (poor thermal conductivity). Conventional methods of cooling such as the fluidized bed or a bed of compacted motion can not, therefore, be easily implemented on a commercial scale. It has been discovered, however, that the color of the melamine powder, in particular, is affected if the melamine is kept at a high temperature for a long time. Therefore, effective control of residence time at high temperature has proven to be critical. As a consequence, it is important to effectively cool the melamine powder. Surprisingly, it was found that it was possible to cool the melamine powder, despite its deficient thermal conductivity and flow characteristics, using mechanical agitation together with direct and indirect cooling. The term indirect cooling describes those cases in which mechanically agitated melamine powder makes contact with a cooled surface. The term direct cooling describes those cases in which mechanically agitated melamine powder makes contact with a cooling medium such as ammonia or an air stream. Obviously, it is also possible to use a combination of both direct and indirect cooling mechanisms.

The melamine powder formed by spraying the molten melamine material into the solidification vessel is maintained below an increased ammonia pressure at a temperature above 200 ° C for a contact time. The duration of this contact time is preferably between 1 minute and 5 hours, most preferably between 5 minutes and 2 hours. During this contact time, the temperature of the melamine product can be kept virtually constant or it can be cooled to a temperature above 200 ° C, preferably above 240 ° C or, most preferably, above 270 ° C. An increased ammonia pressure means a pressure above 1 MPa, preferably 1.5 MPa, preferably above 4.5 MPa and most preferably above 6 MPa. The ammonia pressure is less than 40 MPa, preferably less than 25 MPa and most preferably below 11 MPa. The melamine product can be cooled in the solidification vessel or in a separate cooling vessel. The advantage of the method according to the present invention is the continuous production, on a commercial scale, of dry melamine powder with a purity above 98.5% by weight, and generally above 99% by weight, which has very good characteristics color. The high purity melamine produced in accordance with the present invention is suitable for almost any melamine application, including melamine-formaldehyde resins used in laminates and / or coatings. ^ .é, £: ¿3 ^ 4Í.Í? iteaj "'* The melamine preparation preferably uses urea as the raw material, the urea is fed to the reactor as a molten material and reacted at elevated temperature and pressure.The urea reacts to form melamine, and the secondary products NH3 and C02 , according to the following reaction equation: 6 CO (NH2) 2? C3N6H6 + 6 NH3 + 3 C02 The production of melamine from urea can be carried out at high pressure, preferably between 5 and 25 MPa, without the presence of a catalyst, at reaction temperatures between 325 and 450 ° C, and preferably between 350 and 425 ° C . The secondary products NH3 and C02 are normally recycled to an attached urea factory. The aforementioned object of the invention is achieved by employing an apparatus suitable for the preparation of melamine from urea. An apparatus suitable for the present invention may comprise a purification unit, a reactor having either an integrated gas / liquid separator or a separate gas / liquid separator, possibly a post-reactor, a first cooling vessel, and possibly cooling vessels. additional When a separate gas / liquid separator is used, the pressure and temperature of the separator are almost identical to the temperature and pressure in the reactor.

In one embodiment of the invention, melamine is prepared from urea in an apparatus comprising a purifying unit, a melamine reactor having either an integrated gas / liquid separator or a separate gas / liquid separator, a first cooling vessel and a second cooling vessel. In this embodiment, the molten urea material is fed to a treatment unit operating at a pressure of 5 to 25 MPa, preferably 8 to 20 MPa, and at a temperature above the melting point of the urea. This purification unit may be provided with a cooling jacket or internal cooling bodies to provide additional temperature control. As it passes through the purification unit, the urea melt makes contact with the waste gases from the reaction coming from the melamine reactor or the separate gas / liquid separator. The reaction gases mainly consist of C02 and NH3 and may include a lower amount of melamine vapor. The molten urea material cleans the melamine vapor from the waste gases C02 and NH3 and carries this melamine together back to the reactor. In the purification process, the waste gases are cooled from the reactor temperature, ie, from 350 to 425 ° C, to 170 to 240 ° C, and the urea is heated from 170 to 240 ° C. The waste gases C02 and NH3 are removed from the top of the treatment plant and, for example, can be recycled to an adjoining urea factory, where they can be used as raw materials for the production of urea.

The pre-heated urea melt is removed from the treatment unit, together with the purified melamine from the waste gases, and transferred to the high pressure reactor operating at pressures between 5 and 25 MPa, and preferably between 8 and 20 MPa. This transfer can be achieved using a high pressure pump or, when the scrubber is placed above the reactor, by gravity, or a combination of gravity and pumps. In the reactor, the urea melt is heated to a temperature between 325 and 450 ° C, preferably between 350 and 425 ° C, under a pressure between 5 and 25 MPa, preferably between 8 and 20 MPa, to convert the urea into melamine, C02 and NH3. In addition to the molten urea material, a certain amount of ammonia can be metered into the reactor, such as, for example, a hot or liquid vapor. The additional ammonia, although optional, may serve, for example, to prevent the formation of melamine condensation products such as melam, melem, and melon, or to promote mixing in the reactor. The amount of additional ammonia that has been supplied to the reactor can be up to 10 moles of ammonia per mole of urea, preferably up to 5 moles of ammonia per mole of urea, and most preferably up to 2 moles of ammonia per mole of urea. The C02 and NH3 produced in the reaction, as well as any additional ammonia supplied, are collected in the separation section, for example in the upper part of the reactor or in a separate gas / liquid separator placed downstream of the reactor, and separated of melamine t s liquid. If a separate downstream gas / liquid separator is used, it may be advantageous for additional ammonia to be dosed in this separator. The amount of ammonia in this case is 0.01-10 moles of ammonia per mole of melamine, and preferably 0.1-5 moles of ammonia 5 per mole of melamine. The additional ammonia that has been added to the separator promotes rapid separation of carbon dioxide from the reactor product, thus preventing the formation of oxygen-containing byproducts. As described above, the gas mixture withdrawn from the gas / liquid separator can be passed to the sewage unit to remove steam from the gas separator. melamine and preheat the molten urea material. The melamine melt, which has a temperature between the melting point of melamine and 450 ° C, is removed from the reactor or from the gas / liquid separator downstream and is sprayed in a cooling vessel to obtain the solid melamine product. . Prior to the process of spray, however, the molten melamine material can be cooled from the temperature of the reactor to a temperature closer to, but still higher, to the melting point of melamine. The molten melamine material will be removed from the reactor at a temperature preferably greater than 390 ° C and most preferably above of 400 ° C, and will be cooled to at least 5 ° C, and preferably to at least 15 ° C, before being sprayed into the cooling vessel. Most preferably, the melted melamine material will be cooled to a temperature that is 5-20 ° C above the melamine solidification point. He ? l? A ** ^ * Mii melted melamine material can be cooled in the gas / liquid separator or in a separate apparatus downstream of the gas / liquid separator. The cooling may be carried out by injection of a cooling medium, for example, ammonia gas having a temperature lower than the temperature of the melamine melt, or when passing the molten melamine material through a heat exchanger. In addition, ammonia can be introduced into the molten melamine material in such a way that a gas / liquid mixture is sprayed in the spray means. In this case, the ammonia is introduced at a pressure greater than the melamine pressure of the molten material and preferably at a pressure between 15 and 45 MPa. The residence time of the molten melamine material between the reactor and the spray medium is preferably at least 10 minutes, and most preferably at least 30 minutes, and generally less than 4 hours. The melamine melt, possibly together with the ammonia gas, is transferred to a spray medium where it is sprinkled in a first cooling vessel to solidify the molten melamine material and form a dry melamine powder. The spraying means is an apparatus by means of which the stream of the molten melamine material is converted into droplets, causing the molten material to flow at high velocity within the first cooling vessel. The spray medium can be a nozzle or a valve. The outflow velocity of the melted melamine material from the spray medium is, as a general rule, greater than 20 m / s, and preferably greater than 50 m / s. The cooling vessel contains an ammonia environment and operates at an increased ammonia pressure. The melamine powder that formed has a temperature between 100 ° C and the solidification point of melamine, preferably between 150 ° C and 300 ° C, and most preferably less than 270 ° C. The melamine droplets of the spray medium are cooled by an evaporative cooling medium, for example liquid ammonia, to produce melamine powder. The molten melamine material may contain a portion of liquid ammonia with the remaining portion of liquid ammonia that has been sprayed into the first cooling vessel. The melamine powder formed by spraying the molten melamine material into the cooling vessel is held under an increased ammonia pressure at a temperature above 200 ° C for a contact time. The duration of this contact time is preferably between 1 minute and 5 hours, most preferably between 5 minutes and 2 hours. During this contact time, the temperature of the melamine product can be kept virtually constant or it can be cooled to a temperature above 200 ° C. An increased ammonia pressure means a pressure above 1 MPa, preferably above 1.5 MPa, most preferably above 4.5 MPa and still most preferably above 6 MPa. The pressure is less than 40 MPa, preferably less than 25 MPa and most preferably less than 11 MPa.

At the end of the contact time, the melamine powder is cooled to a temperature below 270 ° C by mechanically stirring the melamine powder and cooling it directly or indirectly. After the melamine powder has cooled to a temperature below 270 ° C, the ammonia pressure is released at 0.05-0.2 MPa and, if necessary, the product is subsequently cooled. The present method can be used in continuous and batch processing. In the case of batch processing, two or more cooling vessels can be used with the melted melamine material which has been sprayed sequentially into the various cooling vessels. Once a first cooling vessel contains the desired amount of melamine powder, the spray medium for the first cooling vessel can be closed and the spray medium for the second cooling vessel can be opened. While the subsequent cooling vessels have been filled, the melamine powder in the first vessel can be cooled to a temperature of less than 200 ° C. In a continuous process, the liquid melamine will generally be sprinkled in a first cooling vessel with the accumulation of melamine powder being transferred to a second cooling vessel where the cooling step is carried out. A hybrid of batch and continuous methods can also be used. The melamine powder should be cooled to a temperature between melting point of melamine and about 200 ° C at a temperature below 100 ° C. During the spraying step the molten melamine material is preferably cooled to a temperature between 10 and 60 ° C below the solidification point. After the ammonia pressure has been released, the melamine powder is preferably cooled to at least 35 ° C, most preferably to at least 60 ° C, by mechanical agitation and by cooling directly or indirectly. The cooling is effected with the aid of an apparatus which is provided with means for mechanically stirring the melamine powder and for cooling the melamine powder directly or indirectly. Among the examples of Means for mechanically stirring the melamine powder includes a rotating screw or drum, a rotating container, rotating discs, rotating segmented discs, rotating tubes and the like. The melamine powder can be indirectly cooled by contact with the cooled surface (s) of the movable and / or fixed parts of the cooling apparatus. The fixed and / or movable surface (s) of the apparatus can, in turn, be cooled with a cooling fluid such as water or oil. The effective heat transfer coefficient of a cooling apparatus suitable for indirectly cooling the melamine powder is preferably between 10 and 300 W / m2K, based on the cooling area of the apparatus.

Furthermore, preference is given to the use of a cooling apparatus consisting of means having a cooling area of 50-5000 m2.

^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The dust can be cooled directly by gaseous cooling medium or evaporator that has been injected into the cooling vessel, preferably ammonia gas or liquid ammonia. Cooling techniques that are a combination of direct and indirect cooling to cool the melamine powder are preferred. Once the melamine powder has cooled to a temperature below 200 ° C, the ammonia pressure can be released. Preferably, the ammonia gas is completely removed (to an amount below 1000 ppm, preferably below 300 ppm, and most preferably, below 100 ppm) when blowing air through the melamine powder. The ammonia pressure can be released before, or in conjunction with, the cooling of the melamine powder from a temperature of less than 200 ° C to room temperature. The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the following example.

EXAMPLE The melted melamine material that has a temperature of 402 ° C is introduced by means of a spraying device into a high pressure vessel and cooled with liquid ammonia which is sprayed in the same way in the container. The temperature in the container is 210 ° C. The ammonia pressure in the vessel varies between 6.8 and 9.2 MPa. The high pressure container is designed as a rotating drum that is provided with a wall that can be cooled and provided with a gas inlet. After 2 minutes the ammonia pressure is released and the melamine powder is cooled to approximately 50 ° C. The cooling step at 50 ° C lasted 7 minutes. The final product contains 0.4% by weight of melam and less than 0.2% by weight of melem.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE The molten melamine material of 400 ° C, held in a tube under an ammonia pressure of 13.6 MPa, is quickly cooled to room temperature by means of the closed tube by contacting it with a mixture of ice and water. The final product contains 1.4% by weight of melam and 0.4% by weight of melem.

Claims (13)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A method for preparing melamine from urea by means of a high pressure process in which solid melamine is obtained by transferring the molten melamine material that comes from the reactor to a container where the melted melamine material is cooled with a medium of evaporator cooling, characterized in that the melamine melt material coming from the melamine reactor having a temperature between the melting point of melamine and 450 ° C is sprayed and cooled by an evaporator cooling medium in a container in an ammonia environment at an increased ammonia pressure, the molten melamine material is converted to melamine powder, using direct or indirect cooling, if required, to obtain dust with a temperature of 270 ° C or less, subsequently the pressure of the Ammonia is released and the powder cools, on at least part of the cooling scale, mechanically stirring the lvo and cooling it directly or indirectly.

2. The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that the powder is kept in contact with ammonia, for a period of 1 minute - 5 hours at an increased pressure, making it possible for the product to remain at almost the same temperature during said contact time or to cool down.

3. The method according to any of claims 1 or 2, further characterized in that the molten material coming from the melamine reactor is sprayed by means of a spray medium in a container in an ammonia environment at a pressure of more than 1. MPa.

4. The method according to claims 1-3, further characterized in that the ammonia pressure is released if the melamine powder has a temperature of less than 240 ° C.

5. The method according to claim 4, further characterized in that the ammonia pressure is released if the melamine powder has a temperature of less than 200 ° C.

6. The method according to claims 1-5, further characterized in that the powder is kept in contact with the ammonia for a period of 5 minutes -2 hours.

7. The method according to claims 1-6, further characterized in that the powder is kept in contact with the ammonia at a pressure of more than 1 MPa.

8. The method according to any of claims 1-7, further characterized in that the powder obtained by spraying is cooled by means of an apparatus that is provided with means for mechanically stirring the powder and provided with means to cool directly or indirectly the dust

9. The method according to claim 8, further characterized in that the means for mechanically stirring the powder comprise a screw, drum, container, discs, disc segments or rotating tubes.

10. The method according to any of claims 8-9, further characterized in that the apparatus has an effective heat transfer coefficient of 10-300 W / m2K, based on the cooling area.

11. The method according to any of claims 8-10, further characterized in that the apparatus has a cooling area of 50-5000 m2.

12. The method according to any of claims 8-11, further characterized in that the cooling is performed at a pressure of 0.05-0.2 MPa.

13. The method as described substantially with reference to the description and the example. fel «-7. ^ tf ^? jjÍ ^^ j ^ A? ft ^^ a A method for preparing euterate from urea by means of a high pressure process in j &fllal solid melamine is obtained by transferring the molten material of melamine coming from the reactor to a container where the molten melamine material is cooled with a evaporator cooling medium; the melamine melt comes from the melamine reactor at a temperature between the melting point of melamine and 450 ° C and is sprayed in a cooling vessel, by means of spray, with an ammonia environment at an increased ammonia pressure, and cooled by an evaporator cooling medium to form melamine powder; the melamine melt is thus converted to melamine powder having a temperature of 270 ° C or less, after which the ammonia pressure is released and the melamine powder is cooled, at least for part of the cooling scale, moving the powder mechanically and cooling it directly or indirectly and, if necessary, the melamine powder is further cooled. PG / jtc * ald * mmr * sll P99 / 1636F