Design of Intensified Reactive Dividing Wall Column for Coproducing Amyl Acetate and Hexyl Acetate

Abstract

This study addresses the concurrent production of pure n-amyl and n-hexyl esters in a single intensified reactive dividing wall column (RDWC). In order to drive the two esterifications of acetic acid with amyl and hexyl alcohols to proceed in the forward direction, the key factor is the decantation of byproduct water from the minimum boiling heterogeneous azeotrope. Since the ester products are the stable node in each quaternary phase diagram and do not form azeotrope between them, they can be produced in both upper and lower RDWCs which are developed from the side rectifier and the side stripper, respectively. The energy consumption of the upper RDWC is less than that of the lower RDWC due to the composition of the exchanged stream divided into the reactive section and the nonreactive section. A vapor recompression heat pump (VRHP) is introduced for further energy savings, and reduced the total energy consumption by 32.8%.