Reactive Distillation: The front-runner of Industrial Process Intensification
Special Symposium - EPIC-1: European Process Intensification Conference - 1
EPIC-1: Keynote Lecture 2
Keywords: Reactive, Distillation, Industrial, Multifunctional, Environment
Abstract
Most industrial scale reactive distillations (presently more than 180), operated worldwide today at capacities of 100 000 ton/y and more, are reported in this paper. Most of these plants started up less than 15 years ago. In most cases, variable cost, capital expenditure and energy requirements are reduced by 20 % or more, when compared to the classic set-up of a reactor followed by distillation. In several cases multiple catalyst systems are used, as well as full use of gas and liquid internal recycle traffic over these catalyst systems. So multiple functions of reaction, separation and enthalpy exchange are combined in a single vessel, a characteristic feature of process intensification.
These industrial reactive distillation systems comprise homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysed, irreversible and reversible reactions, covering large ranges of reactions, notably hydrogenations, hydrodesulphurisation, esterifications and etherification. Various commercial methods for packing heterogeneous catalyst in columns are now available.
This rapid invasion of this new technology into the petrochemical and base chemicals processing industry is mainly due to technology providers CDTECH and Sulzer Chemtech with pilot plant facilities and scale-up knowledge, reducing commercial scale introduction to low risk levels. Barriers for commercial implementation and how to overcome are also indicated.
Chemical manufacturing companies have also developed their own specific reactive distillations by their own research and development. These companies, both on their own and in consortia, also developed heuristic process synthesis rules and expert software to identify the attractiveness and technical feasibility of reactive distillation. Heuristic rules and expert software will be presented and supported by examples. Moreover a sustainable development analysis is used to highlight the contributions of reactive distillation to economics, capital cost and variable cost reduction (prosperity), lower emissions to the environment (planet) and improvements on safely, health and society impact (people).
Academic research has produced methods to identify the feasibility of reactive distillation, to determine the feed locations, to select packing types, to sequence columns optimally and also produced methods to design, optimise and control the columns with steady state and dynamic simulation models.
The forecast for the application of reactive distillation in the petrochemical industry, is that many more reactions, homogeneous and heterogeneously catalysed, equilibrium and irreversible, will be implemented commercially. Moreover in some separations, selective reversible chemical reactions will be applied in reactive extractive distillation set-ups to replace expensive distillations.
The implementation method of reactive distillation can also be seen as a model for rapid implementation of other process intensification techniques in the chemical industry. In particular co-operation of partners in research, scale-up, design and reliable operation is advocated.
Presented Thursday 20, 08:45 to 09:30, in session EPIC-1: Keynote Lecture 2.
