Early in 1988, Du Pont announced a new method to manufacture hydrogen peroxide solution directly from hydrogen and oxygen by a catalytic reaction in an acidic aqueous medium in the presence of a palladium catalyst supported on an adsorbent carbon. initially, the company plans to commercialize the direct technology in western Canada before 1990 to build either on-site units of 6-20 t/day (4-14 million lb/yr) or small plants of up to 9,100 t/yr (20 million lb/yr) located closer to users. in this review, SRI presents a technological review of the direct catalytic oxidation processes and an economic evaluation of the Du Pont process.
SRI concludes that the on-site unit for direct production of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen, as presented in this review, is not economically competitive against the conventional anthraquinone process. The high reaction pressure is the major contributor to the capital costs. Any reduction in the reaction pressure without adverse effect on the reaction rate and the selectivity to hydrogen peroxide would reduce the costs of the reactors and compressors, consequently improving the economic potential of this process.
