Development of an industrial reactive dividing wall column process through laboratory-scale experimentation and modeling

Abstract

Reactive dividing wall columns (RDWCs) are highly integrated distillation systems that simultaneously carry out chemical reactions and multicomponent separations within the same vessel. Reactive distillation columns (RDCs) are well established and dividing wall columns are becoming increasingly popular in chemical processes due to their ability to present significant capital and operating costs savings. However, RDWCs have not been commercially adopted, in part, due to the lack of experimental studies and validated models. Therefore, this work studied the aldol condensation of propionaldehyde using a laboratory-scale RDWC to increase knowledge in this area.This work focused on designing, building, and testing a laboratory-scale RDWC to demonstrate its ability to maintain steady-state and meet process objectives. Additionally, a model was create and compared against the experimental data for validation. By using the tools of modeling and experimentation to explore the aldol condensation test system from kinetics and phase equilibria experiments to RDC then RDWC experimentation, this work creates a roadmap for evaluating the commercial potential of a RDWC system. Additionally, this work validated the approach of using scaleable Oldershaw laboratory distillation glassware to investigate a RDWC and for model validation.