Esterification ethyl-acetate production

Pervaporation membrane reactors are not a recent discovery. The use of a PVMR was proposed in a U.S. patent dating back to 1960 [3.6]. Though the technical details on membrane preparation and experimental apparatus were rather sketchy, the basic idea was described there, namely, the use of a water permeable polymeric membrane to drive an esterification reaction to completion. A more detailed description of a PVMR can be found in a later European patent [3.7], which described the use of a flat membrane (commercial PVA or Nafion ) placed in the middle of a reactor consisting of two half-cells. The reaction studied was the acetic acid esterification reaction with ethanol. For an ethanol to acetic acid ratio of 2, liquid hourly space velocities (LHSV) in the range of 2-5, and a temperature of 90 °C complete conversion of the acetic acid was reported. The use of PVMR for this reaction shows promise for process simplification, as indicated schematically in Figure 3.2, which shows a side-by-side comparison of a conventional and a proposed PVMR plant for ethyl acetate production. 

Ethyl Acetate. The esterification of ethanol by acetic acid was studied in detail over a century ago (357), and considerable Hterature exists on deterrninations of the equiUbrium constant for the reaction. The usual catalyst for the production of ethyl acetate [141-78-6] is sulfuric acid, but other catalysts have been used, including cation-exchange resins (358), a- uoronitrites (359), titanium chelates (360), and quinones and their pardy reduced products. 

The product of the reaction between a carboxylic acid and an alcohol is called an ester (11). Acetic acid and ethanol, for example, react when heated to about 100°C in the presence of a strong acid. The products of this esterification are ethyl acetate and water ... 

Countercurrent flow has advantages in product and thermodynamically limited reactions. Catalytic packings (see Figure 9. Id) are commonly used in that mode of operation in catalytic distillation. Esterification (methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, and butyl acetate), acetalization, etherification (MTBE), and ester hydrolysis (methyl acetate) were implemented on an industrial scale. 

Ethyl acetate is an oxygenated solvent widely used in the inks, pharmaceuticals and fragrance sectors. The current global capacity for ethyl acetate is 1.2 million tonnes per annum. BP Chemicals is the world s largest producer of ethyl acetate. Conventional methods for the production of ethyl acetate are either via the liquid phase esterification of acetic acid and ethanol or by the coupling of acetaldehyde also known as the Tischenko reaction. Both of these processes require environmentally unfriendly catalysts (e.g. p-toluenesulphonic acid for the esterification and metal chlorides and strong bases for the Tischenko route). In 1997 BP Chemicals disclosed a new route to produce ethyl acetate directly from the reaction of ethylene with acetic acid using supported heteropoly acids... 

The principal competing reactions to ruthenium-catalyzed acetic acid homologation appear to be water-gas shift to C02, hydrocarbon formation (primarily ethane and propane in this case) plus smaller amounts of esterification and the formation of ethyl acetate (see Experimental Section). Unreacted methyl iodide is rarely detected in these crude liquid products. The propionic acid plus higher acid product fractions may be isolated from the used ruthenium catalyst and unreacted acetic acid by distillation in vacuo. 

An example of esterification is the production of ethyl acetate by the reaction of ethanol with acetic acid. 

Activated esters of A-alkoxycarbonylamino acids are prepared by two approaches, activation of the acid followed by reaction with the hydroxy compound, and trans-esterification. Most of the products are stable enough to be purified by washing a solution of the ester in an organic solvent with aqueous solutions. A few that are not crystalline are purified by passage through a column of silica. The commonly used method for their preparation is addition of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide to a cold mixture of the reactants in dimethylformamide or ethyl acetate. The first Boc-amino acid nitrophenyl esters were obtained using pyridine as solvent. Pyridine generates the nitrophenoxide ion that is more reactive. For one type of ester, 2-hydroxypyridino... 

As the reactants entered the column, they were adsorbed and the reaction started. Water was strongly retained by the resin while the ethyl acetate was readily desorbed and carried by the mobile phase. Since the product was removed from the reaction zone, esterification proceeded until the full consumption of the... 

Fig. 13.6 Process scheme of the conventional reaction—distillation process (top) compared with the membrane-assisted esterification (bottom) for the production of ethyl acetate [48].

For example, the reaction of methyl acetate and synthesis gas at 170 C and 5000 psig with a Co-Lil-NPh catalyst results in the formation of acetaldehyde and acetic acid. The rate of acetaldehyde formation is 4.5 M/hr, and the yield based on Equation 15 is nearly 100%. Methane (1-2%) and ethyl acetate (1-2%) are the only by-products. The product mixture does not contain water, methanol or 1,1-dimethoxyethane. The acetic acid can easily be recycled by esterification with methanol in a separate step. 

Esterification Species of Hansenula, Kluyveromyces, Brettanomyces Ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate in cottage cheese and shredded Mozzarella cheese. See also Milk and Milk Products... 

Ethyl acetate is to be manufactured by the esterification of acetic acid with ethanol in an isothermal batch reactor. A production rate of 10 tonne/day of ethyl acetate is required. 

Ethyl Acetate. The production of ethyl acetate by continuous esterification is an excellent example of the use of azeotropic principles to obtain a high yield of ester (2). The acetic acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, and an excess of 95% ethyl alcohol are mixed in reaction tanks provided with agitators. After esterification equilibrium is reached in the mixture, it is pumped into a receiving tank and through a preheater into the upper section of a bubblecap plate column (Fig. 5). The temperature at the top of this column is maintained at ca 80°C and its vapor (alcohol with the ester formed and ca 10% water) is passed to a condenser. The first recovery column is operated with a top temperature of 70°C, producing a ternary azeotrope of 83% ester, 9% alcohol, and 8% water. The ternary mixture is fed to a static mixer where water is added in order to form two layers and allowed to separate in a decanter. The upper layer contains ca 93% ethyl acetate, 5% water, and 2% alcohol, and is sent to a second recovery or ester-drying column. The overhead from this column is 95—100% ethyl acetate which is sent to a cooler and then to a storage tank. This process also applies to methyl butyrate. 

If the product 63 is hydrolysed and heated in acid, decarboxylation occurs to give the unsaturated acid and re-esterification gives the ester that might have been the product from condensation of ethyl acetate and acetaldehyde. 

Ester manufacture is a relatively simple process in which the alcohol and an acid are heated together in the presence of a sulfuric acid catalyst, and the reaction is driven to completion by removing the products as formed (usually by distillation) and employing an excess of one of the reagents. In the case of ethyl acetate, esterification takes place in a column that takes a ternary azeotrope. Alcohol can be added to the condensed overhead liquid to wash out the alcohol, which is then purified by distillation and returned to the column to react. 

Mujtaba and Macchietto (1997) and Greaves (2003) simulated the esterification of ethanol and acetic acid using a Type V-CMH model. The reaction products are ethyl acetate (main product) and water. The reversible reaction scheme together with the boiling point temperatures are shown below ... 

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