Design and Simulation of Reactive Dividing-Wall Distillation Column for Transesterification of Methyl Acetate with n-Propanol

Abstract

Abstract.A new process was designed for the transesterification of methyl acetate with npropanol. That is, reactive dividing-wall distillation column technology is used instead of conventional reactive distillation column and methyl acetate -methanol separation column to product n-propyl acetate and methanol. The reaction distillation process was simulated by Aspen Plus simulation software. N-propyl acetate and methanol are produced from the bottom of the main column and the sub-column, respectively. The influence of feed position of n-propanol (PROH) and methyl acetate (MEAC), reflux ratio and liquid phase distribution ratio on the heat duty of reboiler was investigated on the premise of the purity of n-propyl acetate is ensured. The simulation result shows that the new process has great advantages on capital cost saving, because not only the equipment occupancy space but also the investment in condenser are reduced.