MODELING OF MEMBRANE REACTOR FOR ESTERIFICATION REACTION

Abstract

Membrane reactor is a chemical reactor equipped with a membrane as a separator. It is disseminately applicable in manfacturing many useful products b carring of dehdrogenation,hdrogenation, dehdration,reforming,oxidation reactions in membrane based reactive separation for biological sstems and waste water treatment. Mmebrane in reactor provides a semipermeable barrier to partiall separate the compounds in reacting mixture. Esterification is one of the most important chemical process for production of esters. From thermodnamic point of view the conversion of esterification reaction is limited b the equilibrium value. In order to increase conversion this process is carried out in membrane reactor. The reactor in this case consists of a cylindrical tubular membrane. Isopropanol and Amberlistl 5 catalst heated reaction temperature and Acetic acid heated separatel are send to tube side of the reactor. The purge gas is fed in shell. In order to stud the performance of a reactor , which could have marked effect on overall productivity,it is essential to understand the complex process occurring in membrane reactor. With an idea to above , the mathematical model appears to have an unmatched concerns for analysis and simulation process. Thus it is desirable to develop a mathematical model for esterification in a membrane reactor. In this present work, a stead state model for isothermal condition has been developed which incorporates eight differential equations along with eight boundary conditions for state variables and appropriate constitutive relationships. The model equations are consequentl made into dimensionless form and are solved by RKF method in C language. The experimental operating data are available in literature were selected for testing the model predictions and to ascertain the correctness of proposed model. The results are found to be in good agreement. The effect of operating patameters and dimension less numbers on conversion of acetic acid , mole fraction of ester, mole fraction water are studied