Stereo Graphical Method for Feasibility Analysis of Reactive Distillation

Stereo Graphical method for feasibility analysis of reactive distillation

Xin Gao^{a, b}, Hong Li^{a, b, [*]}, Xiaoyu Sun^a, Xingang Li^{a, b}

^a School of Chemical Engineering and technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China

^b National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology, Tianjin 300072, China

Abstract

The Stereo Graphical (SG) method is a novel convenient, reliable, and systematic approach for feasibility studies of reactive distillation. This method was developed by innovatively taking temperature into account. Reactive distillation studies using SG can be established based on traditional methods, which visualize the temperature. The exact reactive distillation curve of a given system can be acquired when the given operation pressure kept constant, such that this curve describes the reaction zone of the reactive distillation process. The feasibility of using reactive distillation in a reaction system can be assessed using SG (feasibility study), thereby providing useful information such as the feasible range of feed composition and the need for a non-reaction zone. In this paper, three cases were used to elaborate the application of the proposed SG method. Reactive distillation was proven feasible for the methyl tert-butyl ether, ethyl tert-butyl ether, and tert-amyl methyl ether systems. Given the large differences in their reaction equilibrium constants, these systems differ in terms of the details of their conceptual designs. This method is expected to have accurate results when it is conveniently applied in the study of other reaction systems.

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[*] Corresponding author. Tel: +86-022-27404701-8503; E-mail: lihongtju@tju.edu.cn