Catalytic distillation for the synthesis of tert-butyl alcohol with structured catalytic packing

The catalytic distillation for the synthesis of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) with hydration of isobutene from a C4 mixture was proposed, in which a new-type BH structured catalytic packing was employed in the reaction section of catalytic distillation column. The reaction kinetics over an ion-exchange resin embedded with and without catalyst bag has been determined in a batch stirred reactor, respectively. The kinetic equation and effective factor of the structured catalytic bag were incorporated into the mathematical model of a catalytic distillation column. On this basis, the operating performance of catalytic distillation column was investigated, and it was found that in the improved process the total isobutene conversion increased from 60% to 67.7%, and the total heat duty on reboilers per amount of TBA decreased by 4.72%.