Optimum design of a distillation column with external side reactors

One of the limitations for reactive distillation to be economically attractive is that the temperature range suitable for reasonable chemical reaction kinetics must match the temperature range suitable for vapor-liquid equilibrium since both separation and reaction occur in a single vessel. The work of Kaymak and Luyben (2004) was extended to provide a more rigorous steady-state economic optimization of the column/side reactor flowsheet. Effects of optimization variables on the optimization problem were investigated, i.e., number of external side reactors, holdup of each reactor, number of trays between each liquid trap-out, number of the stripping trays, and number of the rectifying trays. This configuration has better steady-state economics than conventional reactive distillation in cases where there is a temperature mismatch between reaction and separation. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting (Salt Lake City, UT 11/4-9/2007).