Design of TAME Process using a Commercial Design Software

Though a reactive distillation column reduces energy requirement and gives easy separation of azeotropic mixture to result in wide practical applications in field, its design is difficult. On the other hand, a commercial design software used largely in chemical process design and performance evaluation can solve the problem, but the addition of reaction into the tray is not simple. In this study the addition is implemented to make the process simulation available, and it is utilized in the design of a TAME process to find the following design guidelines. The addition of reactive trays gives more composition elevation than the composition decrease from the reduction of the trays, and the increase of non-reactive trays does not improve product quality. The elevation of reboiler heat duty lowers the product quality by the reduction of residence time in reactive tray and conversion.