Published October 1988
BASF constructed a 38,000 t/yr methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant at Ludwigshafen, West Germany, that uses ethylene as basic feedstock. At the time of writing, this plant is the only commercial MMA unit in the world based on ethylene.
In this review, SRI evaluates the technology and economics for a world-scale, 250 million lb/yr (113,400 t/yr), MMA manufacturing complex starting with ethylene. SRI presents the preliminary design and economics for a methacrolein process unit based on the BASF technology which involves condensation of propionaldehyde with formaldehyde. This process unit is integrated with an upstream ethylene hydroformylation unit and with two downstream units: oxidation of methacrolein and direct esterification of methacrylic acid. Also, SRI compares the production economics for the ethylene-based MMA route with the other currently commercialized routes: MMA via acetone cyanohydrin and MMA from t-butanol.
