The characteristics of ion-exchange resins provide the basis for
many processes of practical
interest involving both sorption separations and catalytic reactions.
The optimal design and
operation of these processes require a proper understanding of the
equilibrium behavior of
multicomponent liquid mixtures in contact with cross-linked polymeric
resins, in terms of both
the amount and composition of the sorbed mixture. For this, a
model which describes the
equilibrium between a polymer phase, described through the extended
Flory−Huggins theory,
and a liquid phase, which does not contain the polymer, has been
developed. This has then
been coupled with a kinetic model describing the catalytic reaction
inside the resin particles.
The model has been validated through an appropriate experimental
analysis involving both
equilibrium partitioning and reactive experiments, for the case of a
highly cross-linked sulfonated
resin in the presence of various mixtures of the components involved in
the esterification of
ethanol with acetic acid. The results indicate the ability of the
resin not only to catalyze the
esterification reaction but also to shift the corresponding equilibrium
conversion, due to its
swelling capability. This approach is believed to apply to a wide
class of reactions catalyzed by
polymeric resins, and it is suitable for the optimal design of the
corresponding processes.
Reactive chromatography is an attractive method for chemical synthesis because chemical
reactions and product separation occur simultaneously in the same unit. In this work, the
synthesis of triacetine, starting from glycerol and acetic acid, using reactive chromatography
on acidic polymeric resins is investigated. The study proceeds first to the characterization of
the adsorption equilibria of the involved multicomponent mixtures and then to the study of the
kinetics of the relevant reactions using a batch reactor. Next, the separation−reaction process
is investigated using a fixed-bed chromatographic column. The obtained data are compared with
the predictions of a mathematical model, whose kinetic and equilibrium parameters were
estimated from the batch experiments mentioned above. It is shown that, although this synthesis requires three steps in series, the chromatographic reactor can produce high-purity (i.e.,
food-grade) triacetine with high conversions. It is found that the presence of water in the
resin at the end of the regeneration step has a strongly detrimental effect on the final triacetine
purity.
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