The J osef M eissner Processes for the Manufacture of Nitroaromatics: On the Way to Sustainability (Case Study)

Mononitrobenzene (MNB) and dinitrotoluene (DNT) are nitroaromatic compounds that are important chemical precursors for the polyurethane (PU) production. PU is one of the worldwide most produced synthetic material, used mainly in the building and construction or in the automotive industries. The manufacture of MNB and DNT takes place in world-scale chemical plants, each producing hundreds of thousands of metric tonnes of these materials per annum. Meissner describes this chapter with the main focus on DNT manufacture and how technical improvements in the chemical industry can lead to saving of valuable resources like energy and water, leading to more public acceptance toward chemical production in general. Key parameters are improvements in wastewater and waste gas treatment or even the avoidance of waste and, as far as possible, recycling of raw materials. Meissner's further development of these techniques for the DNT process can not only be applied for nitroaromatics like dinitrobenzene, mononitrotoluene, or nitrochloroaromatics but also in other sections of chemical production, not least through sophisticated cross-linking with downstream chemical processes.