Bisphenol-A (BPA)

BPA is an important industrial chemical, which is mainly used as a raw material of polycarbonate and epoxy resin. The polycarbonate is clear and tough, and is made into a variety of common consumer goods, such as water bottles, sports equipment, CDs, and DVDs. Epoxy resins containing BPA are used to line water pipes, as coatings on the inside of many food and beverage cans and in making thermal paper such as that used in sales receipts.

Traditionally, commercial scale BPA production has been based on a strong mineral acid catalyst such as hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is highly corrosive, so the BPA plant requires expensive corrosion-proof materials. So an alternative catalyst now widely used is cation exchange resin. This type of catalyst mitigates equipment corrosion. BPA is produced by reaction of two moles of phenol and one mole of acetone in reactor, which is fixed bed columns filled with cation exchange resin.