Chemical Process Industries - Research Paper Example

DDT short for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane is a pesticide categorized as an organochlorine insecticide. It is white in color, crystalline in form, tasteless and has no identifiable smell. It has a melting point between 108.5–109 °C, vapor pressure of 2.53 × 10-5 Pa at 20 °C. It is highly insoluble in water (about 1 µg/liter) and has Log octanol–water partition coefficient of 7.48 (IPCS, 1989). Figure 1 shows the structure of DDT compound. b. A brief description of the uses to which the product is put.

If your product is not itself a product that consumers purchase directly, describe how your product is used to produce something that is directly purchased or used by consumers.  Technical DDT has so far been prepared in every conceivable form. These forms include xylene and petroleum distillate solutions, water-wettable powders, granules, smoke candles, aerosols, charges for vaporizers and lotions. c. A brief description of the usual raw materials used to produce the product, and where THEY are obtained from.

Ideally, you will be able to trace the raw materials back to the biosphere: the earth, oceans, rivers and lakes, and the atmosphere.  Technical DDT is prepared by condensing chloral hydrate with chlorobenzene in concentrated sulfuric acid. In the year 1874, it was first synthesized, but its insecticidal properties were unknown till 1939 when Müller and his coworkers found out about it (Metcalf, Kapoor and Hirwe, 1971). Chloral hydrate is a hallucinatory drug and a sedative; it is also used as a chemical reagent such as in the preparation of DDT.

It is a compound of one molecule of water added to trichloroacetaldehyde and the chemical formula of C2H3Cl3O­2. Trichloroacetaldehyde is also known as chloral and is formed by chlorination of ethanol. The key reaction is; The second ingredient in producing DDT is