Entrainer-Based Reactive Distillation for the Synthesis of 2-Ethylhexyl Acetate

The production of 2-ethylhexyl acetate by esterification of 2-ethylhexanol with acetic acid in the presence of ion-exchange resin (Amberlyst-15) as catalyst is investigated in a reactive distillation (RD) column using toluene as an entrainer. Toluene helps in removing water efficiently from the reactive zone and maintains the reactive zone temperature below the thermal stability limit of the catalyst. Experiments as well as simulations show that quantitative conversion is achievable using the proposed entrainer-based reactive distillation process. The effect of different parameters on the conversion is studied through simulations. The proposed RD process is compared with the conventional process that uses homogeneous p-toluenesulfonic acid (pTSA) as a catalyst and it is shown that the proposed process is more energy efficient and less capital intensive.