T. Popken et al., Synthesis and hydrolysis of methyl acetate by reactive distillation using structured catalytic packings: Experiments and simulation, IND ENG RES, 40(6), 2001, pp. 1566-1574
Reactive distillation experiments have been performed for the synthesis and
hydrolysis of methyl acetate using the structured catalytic packing Katapa
k-S with an acidic ion-exchange resin (Amberlyst 15) as the heterogeneous c
atalyst. Three different setups were used: one-feed and two-feed setups for
the methyl acetate synthesis and another two-feed setup for the hydrolysis
reaction. The influence of several variables, such as reaction kinetics, s
eparation efficiency, residence time distribution, and heat loss, on the si
mulation results has been studied. Most important is the use of an adequate
reaction kinetics, that is, an adsorption-based kinetic model that takes i
nto account the selective swelling of the polymeric catalyst. Only using th
is model can the synthesis as well as the hydrolysis experiments be simulat
ed within experimental accuracy. With pseudohomogeneous kinetics, only the
experiments performed for the synthesis of methyl acetate can be modeled. A
n equilibrium-stage model is capable of describing the experiments in the p
acked column when the reaction kinetics, separation efficiency, and heat lo
ss of the column are taken into account.