n-Butyl acrylate production by esterification of acrylic acid with n-butanol combined with pervaporation

WOS: 000338623700005In this study, the esterification reaction of acrylic acid and n-butanol to produce n-butyl acrylate and water was studied using the pervaporation-esterification hybrid process to perform the separation and reaction simultaneously to increase the conversion of limiting reactant. A Pervap 2201 polymeric membrane was used to separate water and also to shift the equilibrium. The Pervap 2201 membrane showed high selectivity to water in the n-butanol, acrylic acid, n-butyl acrylate, and water reaction system. The effects of temperature, the initial molar ratio of n-butanol to acrylic acid, catalyst loading, and the ratio of membrane area to reaction volume (S/V) were studied. The maximum conversion of acrylic acid was calculated as 96.3% at a temperature of 358 K, a molar ratio of 8, with a catalyst loading of 10 g/L and an S/V ratio of 70 m(-1). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [110M 462]; EBILTEM (Research and Application Center of Science and Technology)Ege University [2012 BIL 022]The authors acknowledge the financial supports from TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) under grant no. 110M 462, from EBILTEM (Research and Application Center of Science and Technology) under grant no. 2012 BIL 022