Multiple Steady States in a Reactive Distillation Column for the Production of the Fuel Ether TAME I: Theoretical Analysis

Abstract

For various reaction systems the integration of the reaction and separation in one unit is an interesting alternative to sequential operation in reactors and distillation columns. This applies, for instance, to equilibrium reactions, such as the production of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and tertiary-amyl methyl ether (TAME), allowing higher conversions in a reactive distillation column.