Economic, Thermodynamic, and Environmental Analysis and Comparison of the Synthesis Process of Butyl Acetate

Abstract

The traditional production of butyl acetate (BA) has the problems of low equilibrium conversion rate and high energy consumption of product separation and purification. In this work, the production processes of BA by transesterification and esterification were simulated. Taking the annual total cost as the objective function, the process parameters of the two processes were optimized by the sequential iterative optimization method. The analysis showed that the total annual costs (TACs) of the two processes with an annual output of 3.46 × 104 t of the product are 4.45 × 106 $/year and 1.75 × 106 $/year, respectively. Compared with the esterification process, the transesterification process has a higher economic performance. Under the optimal economic conditions, the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) technology is used to optimize the total exergy loss and carbon emission. When the exergy loss rate is the lowest (exergy loss rate = 68.52%), the carbon emission is 1210.8286 kg/h. When the carbon emission is the lowest (carbon emission = 1210.8221 kg/h), the exergy loss rate is 68.53% accordingly. The comprehensive analysis and optimization results provide theoretical guidance for the green and sustainable development of the BA production.

Green Chemistry and Process Intensification: Milestones on a Sustainable Development

“…Luo and Ierapetritou [109] examined numerous integrated LCA methods over a case study of two biomass-based p-xylene fabrication techniques and suggested essential insights appropriate to future LCA. Moreover, LCAs of the production of broadly employed titanium dioxide nanoparticles [110] and butyl acetate [111] furnished conceptual directing for more sustainable synthesis of both. This procedure was used in suggesting the conversion of agricultural land in groundwater-stressed areas from irrigated crop types to rain-fed crop types combined with diversification to solar harvesting, so-called "agrivoltaics" [112].…”

Atmospheric-Pressurized Process for Dimethyl Carbonate/Methanol Separation with and without Heat Integration: Design and Control

“…In the current study, there are still weaknesses in PSD technologies, most notably a high energy consumption and low thermodynamic efficiency. A growing number of scholars have been interested in improving the thermodynamic efficiency of PSD process, and numerous studies have now found that remarkable energy savings can be achieved through the PSD process with heat integration. − These findings indicate that the heat integration process has a higher thermal efficiency, less energy consumption, greater economic advantages, and environmental benefits than the conventional ones. However, this energy-saving and efficient technology makes the process complex and difficult to control.…”

Production of n-Butyl Acetate through Continuous Reactive Distillation Using PTSA–POM as the Catalyst: Lab-Scale Experiments, Modeling and Validation, Commercial-Scale Design, and Economic Evaluation

“…The conventional process included a CSTR followed by three distillation columns, while the intensified process included a reactive distillation column (RDC) followed by two distillation columns. Recently, Shen et al 9 optimized the butyl acetate production processes through simulations. They compared the transesterification and esterification reactions.…”

“…It is also used as an extracting agent in pharmaceuticals. Commonly used methods for the production of n -butyl acetate are the esterification of acetic acid with n -butanol − and trans-esterification of methyl- or ethyl-acetate with n -butanol. − Researchers have also studied the coproduction of ethyl acetate and butyl acetate. − Among these, the most practiced method is liquid-phase esterification of acetic acid with n -butanol in the presence of an acid catalyst. This reaction is reversible and exothermic.…”