Reactive separation

拟议研究的主要目标是通过在催化蒸馏塔中将反应和分离结合起来，为化工和石油工业开发新的工艺。正在考虑的过程需要较低的资本投资，并且更节能，从而减少温室气体和污染物排放。通过蒸馏连续除去产物，消除了反应平衡所施加的限制。由于反应热可以提供蒸馏所需的能量，因此总的能源消耗也减少了。要研究的两个石油化工过程是：(1)烯烃的水合反应；(2)醇的氧化醚化反应。对于工艺(1)，将研究两个具体工艺：(A)丙烯水合生产异丙醇和(B)通过引入异丁烯与来自生物材料发酵的乙醇原料中的水反应来干燥乙醇。对于工艺(2)，研究将重点放在催化蒸馏塔中的氧化醚化反应，即甲醇和环氧丙烷反应生成丙二醇甲醚。乙醚是一种低毒、环保的高性能工业溶剂，用于油漆、涂料、清洁剂等。氧化醚化反应是一个高度放热的反应。采用催化精馏排出反应热，比常规工艺设计节能30%以上。我的研究小组最近申请了一项生产环氧丙烷的催化蒸馏工艺的专利，该工艺将用作醚化的试剂。申请人建议开展催化蒸馏塔中传质和催化的基础研究，催化剂的制备和表征，以及每个反应的动力学和机理。催化蒸馏塔已经存在于我的实验室中，并可供将来使用。对于拟议的研究，只需要对设备进行较小的修改。然后，可以根据动力学数据、Aspen Plus模拟结果和我们的专利塔内部设计对那些显示出有希望的结果的过程进行经济评估。一旦获得专利保护，将寻求来自行业的资金来支持试验性植物研究。

The main objective of the proposed research is to develop new processes for the chemical and petroleum industries by combining reaction with separation in a catalytic distillation column. The processes under consideration require lower capital investment and are more energy efficient, thus resulting in lower greenhouse and pollutant emissions. Continuous removal of products by distillation eliminates the constraints imposed by the equilibrium of the reaction. Overall energy consumption is also reduced due to the fact that heat of reaction can supply energy that is required for distillation. The two petro-chemical processes to be studied are: (1) hydration of olefins; and (2) oxidative etherification of alcohol. For process (1), two specific processes will be studied: (a) production of isopropanol by hydration of propylene and (b) drying of ethanol by introducing isobutylene to react with water which is present in the ethanol feed stocks from fermentation of biomaterials. For process (2), the study will focus on the oxidative etherification in a catalytic distillation column by reacting methanol with propylene oxide to produce propylene glycol methyl ether. The ether is a low toxicity, environmentally friendly high-performance industrial solvent used in paints, coatings, cleaners etc. The oxidative etherification is a highly exothermic reaction. The energy saving by use of catalytic distillation to remove heat of reaction is in excess of 30% as compared with the conventional process design. My research group has recently patented a catalytic distillation process for the production of propylene oxide, which will be used as the reagent for the etherification. The applicant proposes to conduct fundamental study of mass transfer and catalysis in a catalytic distillation column, catalyst preparation and characterization, and kinetics and mechanism for each reaction. The catalytic distillation column already exists in my lab and is available for future use. Only minor equipment modifications are needed for the proposed studies. Economic assessment based on the kinetic data, ASPEN Plus simulation results and our patented column internal design can then be carried out for those processes showing promising results. Once patent protection is obtained, funding from industry will be sought to support pilot plant studies.