Csaba Stéger

Feasibility of Batch Reactive Distillation with Equilibrium-Limited Consecutive Reactions in Rectifier, Stripper, or Middle-Vessel Column

A general overall feasibility methodology of batch reactive distillation of multireaction systems is developed to study all the possible configurations of batch reactive distillation. The general model equations are derived for multireaction system with any number of chemical equilibrium-limited reactions and for any number of components. The present methodology is demonstrated with the detailed study of the transesterification of dimethyl carbonate in two reversible cascade reactions in batch reactive distillation process. Pure methanol is produced as distillate, and pure diethyl carbonate is produced at the bottom simultaneously in middle-vessel column; in each section, continuous feeding of ethanol is necessary. The results of feasibility study are successfully validated by rigorous simulations.

Feasibility study of batch reactive distillation in hybrid columns

Abstract Reactive distillation (RD) is an effective way to integrate reaction and distillation. Since no general methodology to perform the conceptual design of RD is known it is not a widespread process in the industry. A general feasibility study is presented in this paper to study the feasibility of batch RD with fast equilibrium limited reaction. Its applicability is presented on the example of ethyl acetate production. Several configurations is found infeasible, but a complex configuration is found able to produce the desired products.

A new way of separating azeotropic mixtures in batch rectifier

Abstract Separation of a maximum boiling azeotrope (chloroform / ethyl acetate) with intermediate boiling entrainer (2-chlorobutane) in batch rectifier is studied in this paper with a new configuration variant (IBED) of batch extractive distillation (BED). Feasibility study is performed, then the two configurations are compared on the basis of theoretical considerations, short-cut estimations, and rigorous simulations. More than 20 % of the applied entrainer can be saved if IBED is applied instead of BED for separating the studied system.