September, 2022

The video shows the installation of the new fluidized bed reactor from its arrival at the dock in Ravenna to the positioning on its foundation at Polynt. The system used to lift the reactor is an innovative one engineered by Fagioli; it is particularly suitable when the traditional cranes are limited by the availability of space as in in this case.

Built at the Walter Tosto workshops in Chieti, the reactor, 7.0 meters of diameter and 25.0 meters of height, has a weight of approximately 500 tons. Inside the reactor, there are about 9.0 Km of cooling coils able to remove the heat generated by the reaction of N – butane and air in the presence of the catalyst, developed and manufactured in house at our R&D and production facilities in Scanzorosciate (BG).

The reaction heat is efficiently recovered to produce steam which is converted to electric energy supplied to the site for its needs and exported to the National grid.

The reactor is designed to produce up to 60 kty of Maleic Anhydride according to the fluidized bed technology, jointly developed by Lummus and Polynt in the Eighties and continuously improved over the years since then by Polynt through the experience gathered running the Ravenna plant.

The reactor is expected to come on stream in September 2022.