Auto oxidation of anthraquinone is the most famous method of hydrogen peroxide production process in the world, where hydrogen and oxygen gases are used as the raw materials.
Hydrogen Peroxide Production Process
Hydrogen peroxide production through this method consists of five process sequences. The first process is hydrogenation of anthraquinone by hydrogen gas, which is catalyzed by palladium catalyst.
Hydrogenated anthraquinone is then oxidized by oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide and anthraquinone. The mixture of hydrogen peroxide and anthraquinone is separated in an extraction tower by using purified water to obtain hydrogen peroxide solution.
The next process is purification. In this process, extracted hydrogen peroxide is purified from organic materials, which are mainly come from anthraquione as raw material.
Purified hydrogen peroxide is finally concentrated to certain concentration by evaporating water from the mixture in a distillation tower. Common technical grade of hydrogen peroxide are 50% and 60%. Meanwhile, food grade hydrogen peroxide has concentration of 35%.
Stabilizers Addition
Contamination of hydrogen peroxide solution by heavy metals or other foreign materials can cause decomposition reaction. In order to reduce decomposition reaction, which cause concentration lose, certain chemicals are added during the production stage. Such chemicals are called by stabilizers agent. Stabilizer substances may vary from manufacturers to manufacturers.
