Preparation of dimethyl carbonate through transesterification in a catalytic distillation column

In a catalytic distillation column, dimethyl carbonate (DMC) was prepared through transesterification between methanol and propylene carbonate using 12-phosphotungstic acid supported on carbon molecular sieves as heterogeneous catalyst. The effecting factors of operational pressure, molar ratio in feed streams, reflux ratio, and throughput on propylene carbonate conversion were experimentally investigated, and the appropriate operational conditions were obtained. A method, which combined neural network and genetic algorithms, was employed to simulate the catalytic distillation process by black box model and optimize the operational parameters. ASPEN software was chosen to simulate and predict the temperature, concentration and other profiles of the catalytic distillation column by equilibrium-stage model.