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Graphical design applied to MTBE and methyl acetate reactive distillation processes
Author(s) -
Lee Jae W.,
Westerberg Arthur W.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690470611
Subject(s) - reactive distillation , methyl acetate , chemistry , tray , acetic acid , distillation , butyl acetate , ternary operation , production (economics) , organic chemistry , chromatography , process engineering , computer science , engineering , mechanical engineering , solvent , economics , macroeconomics , programming language
Graphical tray‐by‐tray methods for reactive distillation columns we developed previously are extended to study two industrial processes: MTBE production and methyl acetate production. As both processes involve four components, projection was used to obtain ternary diagrams by ignoring the inert (n‐butane) for MTBE production and by projecting onto planes of constant acetic acid concentrations for methyl acetate production. These projected methods clearly explain the placing that industry uses for the reaction zones in these processes. Further, it can be visualized why there is an optimum reflux ratio for the methyl acetate process and a value can be quantitatively predicted for it that lies within the range the literature reports.