Chapter 8 - Reactive Distillation

Abstract

Reactive distillation, a process in which chemical reaction and conventional distillation are integrated in a single apparatus, represents one of the best-known examples of process intensification. This chapter gives an overview of reactive distillation technology. The first part describes the relevant fundamentals of reactive distillation. A full discussion of benefits, limitations, and process alternatives is included to identify the potential of that technology. Later on, the different process synthesis and design methods as well as the available modeling approaches are discussed. Hardware aspects, with the main focus on column internals, are treated in the second part of this chapter. The last part shows industrial examples and presents the applications of reactive distillation technology currently discussed in the literature. In particular, the coupling of reactive distillation with other unit operations, the application of reactive distillation in biorefinery processes, and its use in multiple-reaction systems are handled.