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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/N12626/01
Title: RECOVERY OF DILUTE ACETIC ACID SOLUTION THROUGH ESTERIFICATION IN A REACTIVE DISTILLATION COLUMN
Principal Investigator: Saha, Professor B
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Chemical Engineering
Organisation: Loughborough University
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 October 2000 Ends: 30 June 2004 Value (£): 51,713
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Separation Processes
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Chemicals No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
This project will create a basic knowledge of the effects of process and operating variables on the reactive distillation system for acetic acid recovery. This topic has not previously been the subject of rigorous study, even through the recovery of dilute acetic acid is a challenging problem in both petrochemical and fine chemical industries; the conventional methods are very expensive in terms of time, energy and chemicals. Understanding and controlling various operating parameters, selecting suitable catalysts and packing materials will provide the essential design tools to achieve the desired level of acetic acid recovery from industrial effluent streams.A laboratory/pilot sclae reactive distillation column will be constructed to perform experiments under various operating conditions. The physical and chemical characterisation of the polymeric resins will be conducted to assess their catalytic performance towards esterification reaction. Comprehensive data on the kinetics of esterification rections will be generated in batch reactors. A Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson (LHHW) rate model will be developed to represent the reaction kinetics. Residue curve maps will be generated under different conditions to elucidate the feasibility of operation. Experiments will be conducted in reactive distillation column for optimisation of process conditions and column configurations.
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Organisation Website: http://www.lboro.ac.uk