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Eco‐efficient Separation of Mono‐ and Dichloroacetic Acid by Thermally Coupled Extractive Distillation
Author(s) -
Chandra Amit K.,
Patraşcu Iulian,
Bîldea Costin Sorin,
Kiss Anton A.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.202000232
Subject(s) - dichloroacetic acid , extractive distillation , chemistry , distillation , solvent , process engineering , methanol , chromatography , organic chemistry , engineering
Due to its high reactivity, monochloroacetic acid (MCA) is an essential intermediate used in the manufacturing of a wide variety of chemicals. Its industrial production process is highly energy‐ and capital‐intensive, requiring costly purification steps to remove dichloroacetic acid (DCA) impurities. Here, an innovative eco‐efficient process for MCA‐DCA separation is proposed based on extractive distillation in a fully thermally coupled system (a dividing‐wall column (DWC) or an equivalent side‐rectifier configuration) using a new effective solvent: diethylene glycol dipentylether. The design was optimized by performing sensitivity analyses and varying key operating and design parameters. The study proves that separating MCA‐DCA by an extractive DWC (or thermally coupled) is feasible, efficient, controllable, economic, and sustainable.