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A New Chapter

June 15, 2022

“In 1988, NORAM Engineering and Constructors was founded and developed a second generation adiabatic MNB (mononitrobenzene) process. Since then, the global production of MNB has reached 12.5 million MTPY in 2020, with NORAM becoming the dominant technology provider with eighteen MNB plants in operation, accounting for over half of the global production.”

The above abstract appears in a brand new publication by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Titled Industrial Arene Chemistry: Markets, Technologies, Sustainable Processes and Case Studies of Aromatic Commodities, the book details the advent of the NORAM Adiabatic Nitration Process in a case study that traces the early development of the technology and equipment that went on to become the gold standard for MNB production worldwide.

Book Chapter 49. “The NORAM Process for the Production of Mononitrobenzene (MNB)”, authored by NORAM engineers Steven Buchi P.Eng, Dr. Alfred Guenkel FCAE, and Rob Pistner P.Eng., tellingly notes that the concept of adiabatic nitration originated with American Cyanamid, who started up the first of two adiabatic MNB plants in the USA in 1979. At that time, MNB production in the USA was 430 thousand MTPY and the global production was about one million MTPY. The last four decades have seen capacity increase 12-fold, with demand for MNB and polyurethane continuing to grow apace at a steady 5% per annum.

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