Simulation of the synthesis of tertiary amyl ethyl ether from tertiary amyl alcohol and ethanol in reactive distillation by using aspen plus program

Abstract

In this research, a reactive distillation in which chemical reactions and separations occur simultaneously is applied for the synthesis of tert-amyl ethyl ether (TAEE) from ethanol (EtOH) and tert-amyl alcohol (TAA). A rate-based kinetic model for liquid-phase etherification and an equilibrium stage model for separation are employed to study the reactive distillation. The calculation is carried out using the commercial software package, Aspen plus. The simulations are performed to examine the effects of design variables; i.e., numbers of rectifying, reaction and stripping stages on the performance of reactive distillation. It has been found that an optimal column configuration for the TAEE production under the rang of study comprises no rectifying, 4 reaction and 8 stripping stages. With the optimum column, effects of various operating variables on the TAA conversion and TAEE selectivity are further investigated and the results have shown that the reflux ratio and operating pressure are the most important factors for the operation of the reactive distillation. In addition, the pervaporation, a membrane process for separation of liquid mixtures that are difficult or not possible to separate by conventional methods, is incorporated in the reactive distillation. Removal water through the pervaporation membrane improves the performance of the reactive distillation.