Page 11 - Microsoft Word - Sulfo and Sulfa 1.doc

Commercial Scale Sulfonation Equipment

Sulfamic Acid Sulfation Equipment

Figure 11 illustrates the equipment used for sulfamic acid sulfation. This batch process is
run in a stainless steel or glass lined, air tight, stirred tank reactor. The reactor has
heating and cooling coils and provision for weighing in the organic reactant and the
sulfamic acid. Before the reaction starts, air is purged from the reactor with dry nitrogen
and the reaction is run under a blanket of nitrogen. The organic is weighed into the
reactor and a 5% molar excess of sulfamic acid is then added. The reactor is purged and
blanketed with dry nitrogen to remove oxygen. The reactants are heated to 110–160°C
and held at this temperature for approximately 90 minutes. The products are then cooled
to 70°C and water or alcohol are added to dilute the product. As previously mentioned,
an ammonium salt is the direct reaction product so no neutralization step is required.

Figure 11. Sulfamic Acid Sulfation

Solid granular
sulfamic acid

Scale

Heating/
Cooling

Organic
Feed
Product

Load cell

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