ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Reactive distillation — experimental data for propyl propionate synthesis

Marcel Kotora, Carsten Buchaly, Peter Kreis, Andrzej Górak, and Jozef Markoš

Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

E-mail: jozef.markos@stuba.sk

Received: 24 April 2007  Revised: 6 August 2007  Accepted: 10 August 2007

Abstract: A set of experimental data for heterogeneously catalysed esterification of propan-1-ol and propionic acid to propyl propionate in a pilot scale reactive distillation column is presented. The catalytic section of the column was equipped with the structured packing Katapak SP-11. Both, rectifying and stripping, sections consisted of the non-reactive structured Sulzer BX packing. As catalyst, the strongly acidic ion-exchange resin Amberlyst 46 was used. The experimental results show concentration as well as temperature profiles along the column height and therefore exhibit reliable data for model validation purposes.

Keywords: reactive distillation - distillation - experiments - propyl propionate - esterification

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-007-0080-x

Chemical Papers 62 (1) 65–69 (2008)