SCI和EI收录∣中国化工学会会刊

›› 2017, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (8): 1079-1090.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2017.03.039

• Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Optimization and control of a reactive distillation process for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate

Zhixian Huang, Yixiong Lin, Xiaoda Wang, Changshen Ye, Ling Li   

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
  • Received:2016-10-02 Revised:2016-12-05 Online:2017-09-11 Published:2017-08-28
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21306025, 21576053) and the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2013DFR90540).

Optimization and control of a reactive distillation process for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate

Zhixian Huang, Yixiong Lin, Xiaoda Wang, Changshen Ye, Ling Li   

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
  • 通讯作者: Ling Li
  • 基金资助:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21306025, 21576053) and the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2013DFR90540).

Abstract: Dimethyl carbonate is an environmentally benign and biodegradable chemical. Based on integration of reactive distillation and pressure-swing distillation technologies, a novel process for synthesis of dimethyl carbonate through transesterification with propylene carbonate and methanol has been developed by Huang et al. In this work, the optimization of this process was performed by minimizing the total TAC. The results show that the optimal design flowsheet can save energy consumption by 18.6% with the propylene carbonate conversion of 99.9%. Then, an effective plant-wide control structure for the process was developed. Dynamic simulation results demonstrate that the temperature/flow rate cascade control plus with simple temperature control can keep not only product purity but also the conversion of the reactant at their desired values in the face of the disturbance in reactant feed flow rate and feed composition.

Key words: Dimethyl carbonate, Reactive distillation, Transesterification, Dynamic simulation

摘要: Dimethyl carbonate is an environmentally benign and biodegradable chemical. Based on integration of reactive distillation and pressure-swing distillation technologies, a novel process for synthesis of dimethyl carbonate through transesterification with propylene carbonate and methanol has been developed by Huang et al. In this work, the optimization of this process was performed by minimizing the total TAC. The results show that the optimal design flowsheet can save energy consumption by 18.6% with the propylene carbonate conversion of 99.9%. Then, an effective plant-wide control structure for the process was developed. Dynamic simulation results demonstrate that the temperature/flow rate cascade control plus with simple temperature control can keep not only product purity but also the conversion of the reactant at their desired values in the face of the disturbance in reactant feed flow rate and feed composition.

关键词: Dimethyl carbonate, Reactive distillation, Transesterification, Dynamic simulation