Synthesis of a Renewable Oxygenated Diesel Additive in an Adsorptive Reactor

The synthesis of the acetal 1,1‐diethoxybutane (DEB) was studied by the first time in a fixed‐bed adsorptive reactor packed with the commercial ion‐exchange resin Amberlyst 47. The adsorption equilibrium was investigated at 30 °C by frontal chromatography with nonreactive binary pairs. The experimental determination of DEB viscosity, the hydrodynamic study of the fixed‐bed column, and the study of the butanal/water liquid–liquid equilibrium were performed. DEB production and column regeneration were performed in the fixed‐bed adsorptive reactor. Simulation results showed the feasibility of the synthesis of DEB in a simulated moving‐bed adsorptive reactor to obtain a conversion and purities in both extract and raffinate above 97 % with a productivity of 10.04 kg  L −1  d −1 and a desorbent consumption of 4.42 L kg −1 .