Internals for Reactive Distillation

The design of internals for RD is more severe than for conventional nonreactive countercurrent vapor-Uquid processes [5-7]. Feasibility and efficiency of a particular RD process strongly depend on the appropriate choice of internal characteristics Uke liquid residence time, separation efficiency, liquid holdup and pressure drop. Even if column internals for homogeneous RD are similar to noncatalytic column internals, modifications are often necessary to meet optimum reactor design demands. If the use of solid catalysts is necessary, specific bifunctional 

Esterification Methyl acetate from methanol and acetic acid horn. [8] 

Transesterification Ethyl acetate from ethanol and butyl acetate horn. [13] 

Hydrolysis Acetic acid and methanol from methyl acetate and water het. [15] 

Hydration Monoethylene glycol from ethylene oxide and water horn. [24] 

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Now a second European project has started. It is called Intelligent column internals for reactive distillation (INTINT) and deals specifically with the design of suitable column internals adapted to the requirements of reaction and distillation, not only of distillation, as is the case with normal packing. Again, experimental results and simulation tools are the key subjects. The project duration is 3 years, up to 2003, and the budget is comparable with that of the first EU project. 

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