A Novel Thermally Coupled Reactive Distillation Column for the Hydrolysis of Methyl Acetate

A different pressure thermally coupled reactive distillation column (DPT-RD) for the hydrolysis of methyl acetate (MeAc) is developed, and its design and optimization procedures are investigated. The sensitivity analysis is carried out to minimize the energy consumption, which is associated with the total annual cost (TAC). The influence of the proposed DPT-RD scheme on energy consumption and economic efficiency are evaluated in comparison with the conventional reactive distillation column (CRD). Both the DPT-RD and CRD are simulated with the Aspen Plus (R), and it can be observed that for the DPT-RD the energy consumption and the TAC are reduced, and the thermodynamic efficiency is increased as compared with the CRD process.