Ck. Kang et al., A SIMULATION STUDY ON CONTINUOUS DIRECT ESTERIFICATION PROCESS FOR POLY(ETHYLENE-TEREPHTHALATE) SYNTHESIS, Journal of applied polymer science, 63(2), 1997, pp. 163-174
A mathematical model for a continuous direct esterification reactor ha
s been developed. The solid-liquid equilibrium of terephthalic acid (T
PA) was considered in our modeling, and the characteristic dissolution
time, an adjustable parameter, was introduced to account for the mass
-transfer effect in the dissolution of TPA. The effects of the charact
eristic dissolution time, monomer feed ratio, temperature, and pressur
e on the reactor performance at different residence times were investi
gated through simulation. It was observed that the behavior of the fir
st reactor strongly depends on whether the solid TPA is completely dis
solved in the reaction mixtures. From the dynamic simulations, it was
found that a sudden change in the operating conditions affects the eth
ylene glycol (EG) vapor flow rate instantly. For the esterification pr
ocess having two reactors in series, the strategy for time distributio
n and recycling of EG is also discussed. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, I
nc.