摘要 |
A process for the production of high purity ethyl acetate from ethanol is described. The process involves reacting ethanol over a suitable catalyst in a reactive distillation column. The reactive distillation setup allows overcoming the reaction equilibrium for increased conversion of ethanol. Hydrogen is removed as the distillate and ethyl acetate is obtained as a bottoms product from the reactive distillation column. A feed of hydrogen at the bottom of the column and a suitable hydrogenation catalyst placed at the bottom of the column allows for a significant reduction of impurities such as butan-2-one and/or n-butyraldehyde in the ethyl acetate product. Adding side reactors to the reactive distillation column allows additional catalyst holdup for improved reactant conversion. |