Patent ID: 8703974

Claim:
A process for the manufacture of phthalic anhydride by the catalytic oxidation of ortho-xylene, comprising producing in a raw material preparation step, by spraying a heated ortho-xylene liquid feed into a preheated oxygen-containing gas feed, a mixture of ortho-xylene vapour and the oxygen-containing gas, and passing the mixture to a reaction section comprising a fixed bed tubular catalytic reactor for performing the reaction step in which phthalic anhydride is formed, characterised in that the mixture and the surfaces of the process equipment that are in contact with the mixture are maintained at a temperature above the dew point of ortho-xylene in the mixture, during the production of the mixture and the passage of the mixture to the catalytic reactor; wherein process comprises equipment nozzles and heat is provided to at least one of the equipment nozzles connecting to a rupture disc.