Energy, economic and environmental evaluations for the separation of ethyl acetate/ethanol/water mixture via distillation and pervaporation unit

Abstract

Ethyl acetate is a vital chemical raw material and is usually produced by esterification in industry. But this reaction can produce multiazeotrope mixtures of ethyl acetate/ethanol/water. In this work, triple column pressure-swing distillation process with and without heat integration and hybrid processes combining extractive distillation and pervaporation are proposed to separate a mixture of ethyl acetate/ethanol/water. Furthermore, the three processes are comprehensively compared with the triple-column extractive distillation process. Based on minimization of the total annual cost, the parameters of the all processes are optimized. The triple-column extractive distillation process has the greatest economic advantage. Additionally, the performances of the all processes in environmental protection and energy efficiency are evaluated. The energy efficiency of the combined extractive distillation and pervaporation unit process is relatively low, but its environmental impact is the lowest among the four processes.