At the maleic anhydride (AMK) factory in GIKIL, the implementation of the project to increase the production capacity of the factory is underway. Along with the acquisition of the reactor, it is the largest post-war investment whose work will begin in 2021, and the full transition to production with a new reactor is planned for 2024.
“Following the latest technologies, with the aim of increasing the production capacity, from the current 10,000 to 13,000 tons, and with the possibility of increasing the annual capacity to 15,000 tons, all in order to achieve the highest yield and selectivity, reduce the creation of unwanted side products and better use of the distillation system, GIKIL opted for a modern single-zone reactor of larger dimensions with the best possible performance. The old reactor, which was commissioned back in 1984, reached the end of its working life at least 15 years ago. However, apparently there was never enough will or funds to replace it all and ensure the healthy operation of the factory, until now, which in itself says how big and important this investment is,” said Almin Suljić, executive director for production at GIKIL.
Currently, the first phase is completed, which includes the provision of basic engineering to increase production.
“Basic engineering included the replacement of the reactor, which, therefore, has not been changed for 40 years, then the replacement of the compressor, the replacement of the tank for clean AMK and the installation of a new tank for raw AMK. Furthermore, it is planned to replace the salt tank, replace the gas cooler and aftercooler, replace the superheater of the boiler room water, distiller heater and butane evaporator heater. The plan is to replace the pumps, install an acid cooler and a fourth pastilator, upgrade the automatic control system, and replace the transformer and expand the butane storage from 1,000 to 2,000 cubic meters,” explains Ermin Mujkić, director of the AMK factory.
Along with the project to increase the production of the factory, work is being done on another very important project.
“It is about a project for the treatment of technological waste water from the production process. As part of basic engineering, the project includes the separation of the solid part of fumaric acid from technological waste water and its commercial use. The treatment of the resulting filtrate is the second phase of the project, and we will deal with this separately from at the end of August,” Mujkic said.
The maleic anhydride factory began operating in 1979 with benzene as a raw material, and the entire process was based on the catalytic reaction of benzene oxidation. Since 2006, the raw material has been replaced and environmentally friendly n-butane has been used since then, GIKIL announced.
