BackgroundAcrolein is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is a colorless liquid with a piercing, unpleasant and pungent odor. The burning fat smell (like when cooking oil is heated to its smoking point) is caused by the glycerol in the burning fat breaking down into acrolein. It is produced industrially from propylene and mainly used as a biocide and building block of other chemical compounds, such as the amino acid methionine. Acrolein is an important intermediate for many substances. The main use of isolated commercial acrolein currently is the production of D,L methionine, an essential amino acid used as an animal feed supplement. Demand for methionine is expected to grow 5% annually through 2004 and the animal feed market is expected to reach $911 million by 2005. Acrolein is also used as an intermediate in the production of acrylic acid. Acrylic acid is an important intermediate used as a precursor for a wide variety of chemicals in the polymer and textile industries. Additionally, acrolein is used as an antimicrobial agent to protect process lines and is added as an additive to liquid fuels against microbes. With the growth in demand for these products, gains will be made. Based on literature review, there are few methods available to produce acrolein. Among these processes, some are not commercially important to apply in industries. Today, acrolein is produced on a large commercial scale by heterogeneously catalyzed gas-phase oxidation of propylene. For this design project, the partial oxidation route of propylene is selected for the production of acrolein. The propylene oxidation process is attractive due to the use of highly active and selective catalysts in the process. A high purity product can be obtained with the ...... middle of paper ...... desired product purity in acrolein, xD = 0.98Raw materials• Propylene – 95% purity• Propane – 5% • Air – N2 – 78.084%- O2 – 20.948%Constraints• Propylene is hazardous and considerable care must be taken with the composition of the hydrocarbons – oxygen in the feed mixture• Possibility of operating outside the explosive limit• In case of operation in the explosive limit, possibility of adding diluents as vapor • Storage of large quantities of acrylic acid which can polymerize with release of large quantities of heat (acrylic acid dimerizes at a temperature above 90 °C) Physical properties of all components• Information on this can be obtained from the Perry Chemical Engineering Handbook or from the Material and Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each component. Information regarding the safety, toxicity and environmental impact of the material involved in the process. • MSDS