Optimizing the Synthesis of Ethyl tert-Butyl Ether in Continuous Catalytic Distillation Column Using New Ion Exchange Resin Catalyst

• Published in: Chinese journal of chemical engineering 2013-10, Vol.21 (10), p.1121-1128
• Main Authors: Umar, Muhammad, Al-Hamed, Yahia Abubakar, Al-Zahrani, Abdulraheem, Bamufleh, Hisham Saeed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalysts; catalytic distillation; Distillation; Ethanol; Ethers; Ethyl alcohol; ethyl tert-butyl ether synthesis; ion exchange resin catalyst; Ion exchange resins; multiplicity; Optimization; packed column; Synthesis; 乙基叔丁基醚; 优化; 催化精馏; 最佳条件; 树脂催化剂; 液相合成; 疾病预防控制中心; 离子交换
• ISSN: 1004-9541; 2210-321X
• DOI: 10.1016/S1004-9541(13)60616-3

Liquid phase synthesis of one of the important fuel oxygenate, ethyl tert-butyl ether （ETBE）, from etha-nol and tert-butyl alcohol （TBA） has been studied in catalytic distillation column （CDC） using ion exchange resin catalyst CT-145H. A packed CDC of 1.2 m height and 50 mm diameter with indigenously developed reactive sec-tion packing was used to generate experimental data. Effect of different key variables on product purity in distillate, was investigated to find the optimum operating conditions for ETBE synthesis. The optimum conditions for 0.2 kg·s-1 of ethanol feed were found：reboiler duty of 375 W, molar feed ratio of 1︰1.3 of reactants, and reflux ratio of 7. Concentration profiles for each component along each column section at optimum conditions were also drawn. Neither output nor input multiplicity was observed at experimental conditions.