Kinetic azeotropy and design of reactive distillation columns

The reactive fixed points in the distillation maps of a reactive distillation column (RDC) with kinetically controlled reactions are identified and their role in deciding the design feasibility has been elucidated. The fixed points at which both reaction and distillation vectors have zero magnitudes correspond to the equilibrium fixed point. It is known that the relative positions of these points for the rectifying and stripping sections determine the value of the minimum reflux ratio. However, apart from these fixed points, there are certain fixed points in the distillation map at which, though the reaction and distillation vectors have nonzero magnitudes, they nullify the effects of each other. These points correspond to the kinetic fixed points and have a special significance. Their positions have direct influence on the feasible product composition. A simple example of an ideal ternary system undergoing a reaction 2B double left right arrow A + C has been illustrated to show the importance of kinetic azeotropy in the design aspects of RDC.