Analysis of reactive distillation using the esterification of acetic acid as an example

The uncatalyzed esterification of acetic acid is described in the literature as a typical example of reactive distillation. Many rigorous models were validated using this esterification as an example. Process proposals for the production of pure ethyl acetate from ethanol and acetic acid have been determined using short-cut methods with the assumption of chemical equilibrium only. In this publication, the limitations of this esterification are clarified, using a rigorous model that was developed. The reasons why reactive distillation appears to be unfavorable for this esterification are explained. It is, however, theoretically possible to obtain ethyl acetate in high purity with different variants of the process. Different process variants are examined in this work. Construction variables that are important for the design of reactive columns, such as the number of reactive separation stages and the holdup in the column, are analyzed. Furthermore, the influence of variables dependent on the component system, such as the phase equilibrium of the reactive system and the reaction kinetics on the conversion in the column, are described. It can be shown that the short-cut methods published so far for reactive distillation, which assume chemical equilibrium, are inadequate.