Don't Forget Product Recovery in Catalysis Research—Check the Distillation Resistance

Abstract

When investigating a new catalytic reaction, scientists may wonder if the crude reaction product can be easily separated and purified. We present here a new concept-distillation resistance-to assess the potential of distillation as a purification technique and to guide catalyst formulation or operation at the very early stage of the research. Distillation resistance, which has been developed from the analysis of 15 industrial distillation trains, can be quickly calculated with knowledge of only the product composition and atmospheric boiling points of the components. It can be directly converted into a preliminary distillation cost that considers investment and energy cost. Its application and its potential guidance in catalysis research are illustrated through a few cases studies derived from biorefinery processes.

Selectivity switch by phase switch – the key to a high-yield furfural process

“…These distillation resistances are negligible, as industrial distillation trains can typically work up to Ω = 10-15 o C -1 . 32 The entrainment of some sulfolane (4 w%) in the MN/PBA phase should not affect the distillation since sulfolane also has a higher boiling point than furfural.…”

Towards circular carbo-chemicals – the metamorphosis of petrochemicals

“…84,85 Intermediates are often produced in water and therefore costly to recover, particularly when they have a higher boiling point than water. 86 Moreover, bio-based intermediates and bio-based products are generally polar and therefore prone to the formation of azeotropes that are challenging to break using distillation.…”

Bio-Glycidol Conversion to Solketal over Acid Heterogeneous Catalysts: Synthesis and Theoretical Approach

“…In these conditions, acetone acts both as reagent and reaction solvent, avoiding the need of any other organic solvent, finally simplifying the purification of the products and acetone recovery and recycle. This represent an important aspect for a potential industrial scale-up [21]. Herein, the preparation of solketal starting from glycidol permits us to easily separate the desired product at the end of the process using a rotary evaporator under reduced pressure thanks to the highly different boiling points of solketal (188 • C) and acetone (56 • C).…”