Example
The esterification of acetic acid with alcohols like n-butanol, ethanol, isobutanol and amyl alcohol fall in a typical class of reacting systems.
n-Butyl acetate is an industrially important chemical with wide applications as a versatile solvent. It is manufactured by the esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol in the presence of suitable acid catalyst. The alcohol is sparingly soluble in water and the ester is almost insoluble.
Another interesting feature of this system is that it is associated with the formation of a minimum boiling ternary azeotrope of ester, alcohol and water, which is heterogeneous in nature. Hence, in a typical reactive distillation column that consists of both reactive and non-reactive zones, the heterogeneous azeotrope or a composition close to the azeotrope can be obtained as the distillate product. Moreover, the aqueous phase that forms after the condensation of the vapor is almost pure water.
Depending on the requirement either of the phases can be withdrawn as a product and the other phase can be recycled back as reflux. The pure ester i.e. butyl acetate, being the least volatile component in the system, is realized as a bottom product.
Read more about this topic: Reactive Distillation
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