Entrainers fatty-ester synthesis

Further improvement in the technology of methyl fatty ester synthesis can be achieved by dual esterification [4], This takes advantage of the fact that the sulfated zirconia catalyst has similar activity for normal alcohols, over the series C1-C8. However, methanol manifests about twice the activity [20], The removal of water produced by the esterification with methanol is solved simply, by employing a heavy alcohol immiscible with water, such as 2-ethyl-hexanol, which acts simultaneously as a reactant and an entrainer. As a result, the two fatty esters are obtained in the bottom product in the desired ratio by adjusting the feeds. For example, in a preferable operation mode the ratio of fresh feed reactants is acid methanol 2-ethyl-hexanol 1 0.8 0.2. 

Entrainer-Based Reactive Distillation Versus Conventional Reactive Distillation For The Synthesis Of Fatty Acid Esters... 

In ERD in situ separation is used to improve the yield of reaction whereas an entrainer feed is added to make the separation feasible by selectively increasing the relative volatility of one of the products, ERD promises to be advantageous for the synthesis of fatty acid esters. The entrainer increases the relative volatility of water (by-product) compared to the alcohol (reactant), such that during the reaction the water can be continuously removed by distillation. In this way the chemical equilibrium is shifted such that higher conversions can be obtained. In Figure 1 the flowsheet of the desired process is given, in which RS stands for Reactive Section and DS for Distillation Section. 

Figure 1 Conceptual flowsheet for Entrainer-based Reactive Distillation synthesis of fatty acid esters...

Entrainer-Based Reactive Distillation for Synthesis of Fatty Acids Esters... 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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