Study of Dynamic Behavior of Ethyl Acetate Reactive Distillation Column Using ASPEN PLUS.

Abstract

Reactive distillation (RD), the combination of chemical reaction and distillation in a single unit operation, has proven to be advantageous over conventional process systems consisting of separate reactor and distillation units. But the dynamic behavior of process is difficult to study. In this thesis, a reactive distillation column for ethyl acetate production has been created in ASPEN user interface. Steady state simulations are done in ASPEN user interface and the effect of reflux ratio on the composition of ethyl acetate in the distillate is studied. In ASPEN DYNAMICS the composition control studies for ethyl acetate purity has been studied both in the distillate and in the bottoms.