PRODUCT COMPOSITION REGIONS OF SINGLE-FEED REACTIVE DISTILLATION-COLUMNS - MIXTURES CONTAINING INERTS

This paper presents a method to determine the product composition regi ons-of single-feed reactive distillation columns. A new set of transfo rmed compositions is introduced, and the resulting residue curve maps are studied for two reacting mixtures containing inerts. Due to the ge ometrical properties of the new composition variables, by using the re sidue curves it is possible to determine the feasibility of a desired separation from the extreme limiting operating conditions. As in conve ntional distillation, the generalization of the feasibility criterion gives a;:method to obtain the complete product composition region atta inable in a single-feed reactive distillation column for a given quate rnary feed. These concepts are applied to azeotrope-forming mixtures. An interesting behavior is observed for the highly nonideal reacting m ixture isobutene-methanol-MTBE-butane. The minimum reflux ratio, for c ertain splits, corresponds to a finite number of trays in both column sections. The conditions for the occurrence of such a ease are given.