Study on the coupling of esterification with pervaporation

The separation characteristics of the crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) m embranes prepared in our laboratory were studied by pervaporation separatio n of the liquid mixtures of both water/acetic acid and water/acetic acid/n- butanol/butyl acetate. The permeation fluxes of water and acetic acid as a function of compositions were presented. The esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol catalyzed by Zr(SO4). 4H(2)O was carried out at a temperatur e range of 60-90 degreesC. A kinetic model equation was developed for the e sterification: then. it was taken as a model reaction to study the coupling of pervaporation with esterification. Experiments were conducted to invest igate the effects of several operating parameters, such as reaction tempera ture, initial molar ratio of acetic acid to n-butanol, ratio of the membran e area to the reacting mixture volume and catalyst concentration, on the co upling process. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.