A process unit at BASF's Geismar, Louisiana manufacturing facility contains a series of six packed-bed reactors filled with a proprietary catalyst. This catalyst promotes an exothermic reaction, which then allows for recovery of high-value product. A process flow diagram is shown in FIG. 1. The steam flow to the first exchanger determines the inlet temperature to the first reactor, while the refrigerated water flow to the second exchanger determines the inlet temperature to the third reactor. The key operating and control variable is reactor temperature. Higher temperatures favor higher conversion and higher production rate, but the catalyst is extremely heat-labile; i.e., the excursion of only a few degrees Celsius above a critical limit leads to rapid activity loss.
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