Optimisation of Design, Operation and Scheduling of Batch Reactive Distillation Process with Strict Product Specification and Fixed Product Demand using gPROMS

摘要

Optimal design, operation and scheduling of batch reactive distillation process involving esterification of ethanol and acetic acid to produce ethyl acetate (main product) and water is considered here, where the market demand for the total distillate product and its specification are fixed. For a given market demand, this work investigates how the design parameters (number of stages N and vapor load V), operation parameters (e.g. Reflux ratio R; batch time, tb) and schedule in terms of number of batches NB are to be adjusted to maximize a profit function. The capability of the existing design in terms of batch time and schedule to meet variable product demands is also investigated