Simulation For The Process Of Producing Ethyl Acetate

Ethyl Acetate is an important chemical product, which is widely used in many fields, the main way at home is to synthesize it via esterification of acetic acid (HAc)with ethanol (EtOH) using sulphuric acid as homogeneous catalyst. Based on the present process data of a plant, using a steady-state simulation software Aspenplus, a model for ethyl Acetate via acetic acid with ethanol including the following five sections: esterification, concentration, purification, low-ester callback and waste water callback was set up and the model parameters was reconciled, and the model haspossessed applicability, errors of key parameters were controlled under 5%Based on simulated model, also, according to the point of low esterificable efficiency and complex following seperation sections of esterification column, a completely new esterification RD system has been modelled and an improvment was made to the present technics by introducing an recycled stream ,rich in HAc and H₂SO₄, from the bottom of the RD column, and the whole process of Ethyl Acetate with high purification was also founded.Through contrast of original and reactive distillation processes, we could easily find that the new process can not only improve the esterificable conversion, also reduce the operation load of the following sections: esterification, concentration, purification, low-ester callback and waste water callback.