Abstract
Chemical process industries deal with production which further utilizes reaction followed by separation of the reaction mixtures. Reactive distillation is a new technique of combination of both reaction and separation in a single unit beneficial for equilibrium-limited reactions and also cost-effective. This makes it a highly complex process because many parameters involved in both reaction and separation are interactive in nature. In this chapter, modeling, simulation, and optimization of reactive distillation are presented. Methyl acetate production via reactive distillation is chosen as a case study. The results are compared for both experimental and simulation studies. The synthesis of methyl acetate was carried out in a packed RDC by catalytic esterification using acetic acid and methanol as reactants in a pilot-scale experimental setup. A strong acidic ion exchange catalyst, Amberlyst-15, was used to enhance the rate of heterogeneous esterification reaction. The result obtained was observed with change in various variables including the reflux ratio (RR), distillate-to-feed (D/F) ratio, and bottom-to-feed (B/F) ratio with respect to product composition. The optimization and sensitivity analysis was carried out using Aspen Plus process simulation software.
Highlights
1.1 Reactive distillation (RD)Chemical engineering deals with the conversion of raw material into products via a chemical unit process or unit operations
The conversion limits for reversible reactions are difficult to overcome toward highest purity of product because once the equilibrium is achieved in the system, no more reactant will be converted into products
In 1980, with the advent of reactive distillation technology, Eastman Company tentatively carried out synthesis of high-purity methyl acetate
Summary
Chemical engineering deals with the conversion of raw material into products via a chemical unit process or unit operations. In view of all these constraints, reactive distillation emerged as a novel technique of process intensification in which reaction and separation of product take place simultaneously in a single column [2]. In the case of reactive distillation, total capital cost is reduced due to two combined process steps held in the single unit. This kind of integration is beneficial in reducing pump cost and other instrumentation cost. The saving in total energy cost is due to exothermic nature of many chemical reactions which in turn are beneficial in providing heat for separation of components simultaneously [3–10].
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