Modeling and Analysis of Novel Reactive HiGee Distillation

Abstract

Reactive distillation (RD) is a well studied process-intensified technology where the interaction of chemical kinetics and vapor-liquid equilibrium is exploited through integration of reaction and separation in a single column. The in-situ removal of products for an equilibrium-limited chemical reaction in RD helps in realizing enhanced conversion, increased selectivity and reduced recycles. However, in spite of many benefits achievable through RD, several issues typical of a conventional column/packed bed still persist in RD; these include vapor-liquid mass-transfer limitations, inefficient catalyst wetting and constrained flooding limits, and need to be addressed. In this work, we propose a novel, intensified, reactive HiGee distillation (RHD) technology that addresses many of the issues stated above. Design of an industrial-scale, conventional RD column and the proposed RHD technology for methyl acetate (MeAc) esterification is employed as the case study. Rigorous modeling and simulation of RHD process, besides RD process, in Aspen-Plus™ is described. Obtained results suggests that nearly 13.6% reduction in equivalent annualized operating cost (EAOC) and more than 4-fold reduction in packed bed volume can be achieved by RHD over conventional RD. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.