Reactive Distillation for Methanol Synthesis: Parametric Studies and Optimization Using a Non-polar Solvent

Reactive distillation (RD) for methanol synthesis offers the advantage of process integration by combining reaction and separation in a single equipment and utilization of the reaction exotherm in the separation. The feasibility of RD for methanol synthesis using a polar solvent has already been dem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Process integration and optimization for sustainability 2020-12, Vol.4 (4), p.325-342
Main Authors: Ghosh, Shashwata, Seethamraju, Srinivas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Design
Design parameters
Distillation
Economics and Management
Energy Policy
Engineering
Equilibrium
Flow rates
Heat
Industrial and Production Engineering
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Kinetics
Methanol
Optimization
Original Research Paper
Separation
Simulation
Slurry reactors
Solvents
Streams
Sustainable Development
Synthesis
Synthesis gas
Temperature
Waste Management/Waste Technology
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Summary:Reactive distillation (RD) for methanol synthesis offers the advantage of process integration by combining reaction and separation in a single equipment and utilization of the reaction exotherm in the separation. The feasibility of RD for methanol synthesis using a polar solvent has already been demonstrated in an earlier work by Ghosh and Seethamraju (Chem Eng Process - Process Intensif, 145:107673, 2019 ) using a polar solvent. Since reaction and distillation occur simultaneously in the same column, the effect of operating and design parameters of the column is crucial for its performance. In this paper, the effects of different operating and design parameters have been presented using squalane—a non-polar solvent. Performance of RD for methanol synthesis was evaluated in terms of conversion of reactants, productivities of methanol and water, and purities of the product streams. Operating parameters like reflux ratio, solvent flow rate, and feed temperatures, and design parameters like addition of reactive and non-reactive stages were found to affect the column performance significantly. Based on the results from the parametric studies, optimization of the RD column was performed to maximize the methanol production in the liquid distillate. Conversions of CO and H 2 were found to increase respectively from 52.9% and 36.8% in the base case to 78.4% (48% increase) and 54% (47% increase) in the optimum cases. Methanol productivity also increased by 47% relative to the base case with enhancement in separation of the produced methanol.
ISSN:2509-4238
2509-4246
DOI:10.1007/s41660-020-00122-x