Studies of Three-Phase Hydrogenation of Nitrobenzene to Aniline in the Presence of a Ruthenium Catalyst

Abstract

Catalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene (NB) is an important technological stage in the production of aniline (AN). The catalytic behavior of hypercrosslinked polystyrene based ruthenium catalyst 3%Ru/MN270 in three-phase hydrogenation of NB to AN is discussed in the paper. The following parameters were varied during the studies: 0.12 to 0.24 mol/L NB, 1.11·10–4to 11.12·10–4mol/L catalyst, 160 to 190 °C, partial hydrogen pressure of 0.113 to 1.013 MPa. The optimal process parameters were determined to provide 98 % selectivity to aniline at 97 % conversion of nitrobenzene.