Butyl acetate synthesis via reactive distillation — a PENG-ROBINSON process flowsheet
Methyl acetate transesterifies with n-butanol over the reactive stages of a column into butyl acetate (a common paint/coatings solvent) and methanol, which is pulled overhead as it forms while high-boiling butyl acetate collects in the bottoms. Luyben et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2011, 50, 1247.
168 views 0 forks
- Rigorous PENG-ROBINSON thermodynamics, solved by the same engine every simulation runs on.
- 1 unit operations modeled: RD.
- Focus areas: Reactive distillation, Transesterification, Solvent production.
- Thermodynamics
- PENG-ROBINSON
- Components
- methyl_acetate, 1_butanol, butyl_acetate, methanol
- Unit operations
- RD
Opens in a new tab, loaded straight into the app — no setup.
Read the step-by-step guideReproduce this exact result from Python — the real client.get_example() → run_and_wait() path, not a mockup.
from flowsim.sdk import FlowSimClient
client = FlowSimClient()
example = client.get_example("butyl-acetate-reactive-distillation")
sim = client.create_simulation(example["title"], example["flowsheet"])
result = client.run_and_wait(sim["id"])
print(result["status"]) # "converged"
streams = client.streams(sim["id"])Related models
DME synthesis via reactive distillation
Methanol dehydrates to dimethyl ether over the reactive stages of a column — reaction and separation in one shell, pulling DME overhead while unconverted methanol and water leave the bottoms (Peng-Robinson EoS avoids the missing UNIFAC group-decomposition for ethers that blocks this under an activity-coefficient package).
Methyl ethyl ketone from 2-butanol dehydrogenation
Catalytic dehydrogenation of 2-butanol to methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) over an In/MgO catalyst, per DE2831465A1 (1978), followed by a flash to remove the H₂ co-product and a distillation splitting MEK from unreacted 2-butanol.
Acetone from isopropanol dehydrogenation
Endothermic gas-phase dehydrogenation of isopropanol (IPA) to acetone, after Luyben (Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2011, 50, 1206). The H₂-rich reactor off-gas is scrubbed with water to recover the acetone before venting, then a column splits acetone from the water/unreacted-IPA absorbent.
Biodiesel: alkali-catalysed transesterification with methanol recovery
Continuous base-catalysed (NaOH/methoxide) transesterification of a refined vegetable oil to fatty acid methyl esters — the classic FAME biodiesel process. The oil is modeled as a 70/30 triolein/tripalmitin blend (the C₁₈:1 and C₁₆:0 triglycerides that dominate soy, canola and rendered-fat feedstocks); each is transesterified with methanol at a 6:1 molar ratio and 60 C in a two-reactor cascade at 97% conversion per stage, the standard industrial staging that drives the equilibrium toward the esters. Excess methanol is then vacuum-flashed overhead for recycle, and the wash/settling step splits the heavy glycerol phase from the ester product. The FAME product comes out at 96.9 wt% ester content — just over the EN 14214 minimum of 96.5 wt% — and the crude glycerin at ~85 wt% glycerol, typical of the crude co-product that goes on to a glycerin refining column.
TAME synthesis via reactive distillation
Tert-Amyl Methyl Ether (TAME) is etherified from a cracked C₅ cut's reactive isoamylenes (2-methyl-1-butene / 2-methyl-2-butene) and methanol over the reactive stages of a column, pulling unreacted light C5s overhead while methanol-free TAME leaves the bottoms — reaction and separation in one shell, the same reactive-distillation pattern as the DME etherification example. Luyben, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2005, 44, 5715.
Methyl acetate esterification via reactive distillation
Acetic acid and methanol esterify over the reactive stages of a column into methyl acetate and water — a genuine quadruple-azeotrope system where reactive distillation intensifies what would otherwise need several conventional columns. Reactive Distillation Design and Control, Luyben & Yu, Wiley (2006), pp. 147-164.