Developing a process for producing ethylacetate via the dehydrogenation of ethanol

Abstract

This work is devoted to developing a domestic process for the catalytic dehydrogenation of ethanol into ethylacetate, a product that is widely used as a solvent in the production of paint-and-lacquer materials, medicinal substances, and printing ink dyes for the food industry. The process is an alternative to the conventional method for producing of ethylacetate via the esterification of acetic acid with ethanol. In our process, ethanol (bioethanol) is the only raw material. Compared to the traditional technique, our process is nearly wasteless with respect to the raw material despite its reversibility and produces no harsh media or waste water. Ethanol is dehydrogenated into ethylacetate on NTK industrial catalysts (OOO Dorogobuzh, Russia) with different chemical composition. The catalysts are tested in a flow unit within a range of temperatures of 230–300°C and pressures of 0.1–2.0 MPa. The NTK-4 catalyst yields the best results: it allows the single-pass conversion of ethanol from 40 to 63% at a process selectivity of 86–94%. The NTK-4 catalyst exhibits stable operation and reproducibility of results under the conditions of laboratory tests, and the process is intended for tests in a pilot unit. The process could be of interest to low-capacity enterprises that are not equipped to operate with sulfuric acid using the conventional method and are engaged in the fields of solvents, the paint and lacquer industry, and packing materials.