Kinetics study and process simulation of transesterification of ethylene glycol with methyl acetate for ethylene glycol diacetate

Abstract

The kinetics of transesterification of methyl acetate with ethylene glycol catalyzed by acidic ion‐exchange resin NKC‐9 is investigated in detail. The effects of reaction temperature, catalyst loading, and initial reactants molar ratio on the reaction rate are studied in the absence of mass transfer resistance. The kinetic equation is obtained by utilizing the PH model to correlate the experimental data. Then a distillation process is designed to produce high‐purity ethylene glycol diacetate, which includes a reactive distillation column, an extractive distillation column, and a solvent recovery column. The extractive distillation column and solvent recovery column are used to recycle excess methyl acetate and entrainer. Operational and structural parameters are optimized by minimizing the total annual costs (TAC) while meeting the product specifications.

The transesterification of ethylene glycol and 1,2-butanediol with dimethyl carbonate: reaction network and kinetic modeling

“…When the solution stirring speed reaches a certain value, the catalyst achieves complete suspension, the reaction liquid can be considered pseudo-homogeneous, and external mass transfer resistance can be eliminated. [48][49][50] Therefore, it is necessary to identify a suitable stirring speed where, while not damaging the resin catalyst, the effects of external diffusion can be ignored.…”

Kinetic study on hydrolysis of isoamyl DL‐lactate catalyzed by NKC‐9

“…This phenomenon can be explained by the theory of chemical equilibrium that the equilibrium conversion of one reactant can be effectively enhanced by increasing the amount of the other reactant. [23,25]…”

Experimental methods in chemical engineering: Process simulation

“…Pirola et al [ 28 ] simulated an extractive distillation column employing p‐xylene as entrainer to maximize acetic acid recovery. Xiao et al [ 29 ] dimensioned a three‐column process to transesterify ethylene glycol with methyl acetate, regressing reaction kinetics parameters, and optimized the design minimizing the TAC. Wu et al [ 30 ] designed a dividing‐wall column, together with its control strategy, for reformed gasoline.…”