Process description for the A7 example simulation

The process plant includes a reactor along with an azeotropic distillation column for separation of the MTBE product. We add a reactive distillation section to the azeotropic distillation column to increase the overall conversion to MTBE.

The methanol recovery section follows the azeotropic distillation column (the MTBE recovery section) and includes:

• A liquid-liquid extractor column

• A distillation column that provides the methanol recycle to the reactor and recycled feed water for the liquid-liquid extractor

The SRKM equation of state with fitted binary interaction parameters provides a good simulation of the VLE fractionators and the VLLE extractor. The thermodynamics successfully predict the azeotropic removal of methanol from the MTBE product stream.

See Reaction section for the A7 example simulation and Methanol recovery section for the A7 example simulation for details on the configuration and process requirements for each section of the process plant.