Reactive distillation processes to break azeotropes

In the chemical industry, the demand for purer products, coupled with relentless pursuit for greater efficiency, has necessitated continued research into the techniques of distillations. Distillation is one of the oldest and most important separation processes used in the chemical and petrochemical industries. It is a process wherein the energy requirement is a critical target. The base of this process is a difference in volatility of the components, which should be separated. Among several distillation techniques, reactive distillation (RD) has become an interesting alternative for some conventional processes, especially the equilibrium-limited reactions. The RD combines reaction and distillation in a single column, where reactants are converted to products with simultaneous separation of the products and recycle of unused reactants. This simultaneous reaction and separation allows crossing of azeotropic concentrations and distillation boundaries,hence facilitating product purification.In this book, the removal of some important azeotropes i.e. ethanol/water is conceptually investigated and relevant sensitivity analysis is also conducted.