Enhanced Energy Savings from Simultaneous Triple Esterification of C4–C6 Alcohols in a Single Reactive Distillation Column

Abstract

This paper introduces multiple esterification reactions of three alcohols occurring in a single reactive distillation (RD) column and reports significant energy savings by combining three reactions in the single unit. To realize a feasible integration of the three reactions, the removal of the common water product from the unstable heterogeneous azeotrope should be possible through liquid–liquid decantation in the eight-component system. For this multireaction system, only the direct sequence can produce three esters with a purity higher than 99.0 mol % due to the behavior of liquid–liquid phase equilibrium. We demonstrate an economic evaluation of the direct sequence of a single RD column simultaneously producing the three esters by comparing the direct sequence with the two parallel RD sequences in the same design basis. The total annual cost of the triple esterification direct sequence is reduced by 21.3–25.2% compared to that of the parallel esterification system.

AI-Based Geometry Recognition for Evaluating the Feasibility of Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems

“…The examined double-feed column satisfies the requirement for an adequate level of reaction. Furthermore, the liquid composition (x 4 ) is located within the reachable region, x 4 : [16,11,5], which verifies the feasibility of the design. Notably, the feasibility evaluation including stage calculations of the RD column required approximately 3.01 s, implying the potential for conducting a timely feasibility evaluation for double-feed columns.…”

“…Reactive distillation (RD) is a promising intensification technique that integrates chemical reactions and separation into a single column filled with a catalyst, enabling the simultaneous removal of products and achieving high reaction conversion and yield by overcoming the equilibrium limit. , RD is an attractive approach for decreasing the energy consumption of distillation alone . The practical applications of RD have demonstrated a significant reduction of 30 to 50% in capital costs and energy consumption compared to conventional processes with the risk of gas emissions mitigated. , The advantages of RD have led to numerous industrial implementations of etherification (e.g., methyl tert -butyl ether, ethyl tert -butyl ether, and tert -amyl methyl ether), , esterification (e.g., n -butyl acetate, n -amyl acetate, n -hexyl acetate, and cyclohexyl acetate), − transesterification (e.g., dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, and propylene glycol methyl ether acetate), − and olefin metathesis (e.g., 2-pentene) with a variety of studies conducted to improve the energy efficiency of the reaction and separation systems . While RD offers significant advantages over conventional processes, it is important to note that its benefits may not always be applicable, which means an RD column is sometimes not beneficial in the infeasible integration of reaction and separation, and the reaction would impact the presence of separation boundaries. , Consequently, the feasibility of an RD column should be assessed under the given specifications to determine the suitability of implementing RD.…”

Influence of Side Reactions and Catalytic Packing Geometry on Acrylic Acid Esterification with Butanol by Reactive Distillation Using Amberlyst 15

“…Reactive distillation (RD) is an efficient process intensification technology that can break the reaction equilibrium limit, shorten the processing time, and reduce the cost . Esterification is one of the most extensive applications of RD, which has successfully realized the production of methyl acetate, n -butyl acetate, and other esters, and has also been reported in the production of n -butyl acrylate. , Moraru and Bildea confirmed that reactive distillation technology can be used to produce high-purity n -butyl acrylate products through process simulation. The pilot test and modeling analysis of Schwarzer and Hoffmann showed that the ester fraction in a single reactive distillation column can reach 0.93, which proves that RD can be quite feasible in the production of BA.…”

Synthesis of heat‐integrated pressure‐swing azeotropic distillation using a graphical pinch analysis

“…In azeotropic distillation, the presence of an azeotrope causes the formation of distillation boundaries or separatrix in the multiple components, 8 and these boundaries cannot be circumvented by simple distillation 9 . This thermodynamic hurdle can be overcome by azeotropic distillation with an immiscible component forming the azeotrope, 10,11 extractive distillation with an entrainer, 12,13 and even reactive distillation by combining reaction and distillation 14,15 . In addition, pressure‐swing distillation (PSD) can efficiently separate azeotropic mixtures without the use of extra components and is environmentally friendly 16 .…”