Waste Reduction in Alkyl Pyridine Production: Solving the Root Problem Pays off

Abstract

The production process for 5-ethyl-2-methyl-pyridine (MEP) is the largest single source of total organic carbon and total nitrogen in the feed of the capacity-limited wastewater treatment plant at LONZA's major production site. According to LONZA's integrated waste treatment concept, efforts were made to reduce the amount of critical components in the MEP process wastewater. Detailed analysis of causes and effects revealed the formation of small amounts of ethylamines in the reaction unit as the root cause not only for the ecological but also for the economical problems such as high catalyst consumption and reduced MEP yield. Separation of interfering ethylamines from the process in combination with recycling of catalyst and catalyst byproduct-containing process water can solve all problems.