Theoretical investigations on the quaternary system n-butanol, butyl acetate, acetic acid and water

Reactive distillation has been established fur different processes, for exa mple, the production of MTBE and TAME. Numerous publications have shown exp erimental and theoretical results of such etherification processes, The pre sent paper deals with a theoretical background fur an esterification proces s. The investigations will be carried out with the quaternary system consis ting of n-butanol, butyl acetate, acetic acid and water. For this system, n ot often used in literature, the chemical equilibrium constant and a suitab le reaction kinetic has to be found. The different singular points will be checked and the kind of singularity will be determined. Residue curve maps will show the shape of simulations from different starting points. The diff erences between a simple distillation process and a reactive distillation p rocess will be demonstrated.