The recovery of acetic acid from its dilute aqueous solutions is a major pr
oblem in both petrochemical and fine chemical industries. The conventional
methods of recovery are azeotropic distillation, simple distillation and li
quid-liquid extraction. Physical separations such as distillation and extra
ction suffer from several drawbacks. The esterification of an aqueous solut
ion (30%) of acetic acid with n-butanol/iso-amyl alcohol is a reversible re
action. As excess of water is present in the reaction mixture, the conversi
on is greatly restricted by the equilibrium limitations. The eaters of acet
ic acid, namely, n-butyl acetate and iso-amyl acetate, have a wide range of
applications. In view of the appreciable value of these esters, the presen
t work was directed towards recovery of 30% acetic acid by reaction with n-
butanol and iso-amyl alcohol in a reactive distillation column (RDC) using
macroporous ion-exchange resin, Indion 130, as a catalyst bed, confined in
stainless steel wire cages. Experiments were conducted in order to achieve
an optimum column configuration for the synthesis of n-butyl acetate/iso-am
yl acetate in an RDC, The effect of various parameters, e.,g. total feed fl
owrate, length of catalytic section, reflux ratio, mole ratio of the reacta
nts. location of feed points and effect of recycle of water were studied. (
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