Acetone, Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) and Methyl Isobutyl Ketone

Published May 1972

This report is concerned with the technology and costs of various processes for the manufacture of acetone, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK). The processes evaluated in this report are dehydrogenation of isopropanol and direct oxidation of propylene for the production of acetone; sulfation and hydrolysis of n-butylenes for the production of sec-butanol; and dehydrogenation of sec-butanol and direct oxidation of n-butylenes for the production of MIBK; and two-step condensation of acetone via mesityl oxide and direct condensation of acetone for the production of MIBK.

At the time of writing, the cumene hydroperoxide process, which produces both phenol and acetone, was the most important process for production of acetone. This process has been evaluated in Process Economics Program Report No. 22, "Phenol," and therefore it is not included in this report. Also not included in this report is the sec-butyl-benzene hydroperoxide process, which is similar to the cumene hydroperoxide process but produces phenol and MIBK. This process will be discussed in detail in the forthcoming PEP Report, "Phenol, Supplement A."

A review of various other processes to produce acetone, MEK, and MIBK is also presented in this report.