A Steady Simulation Study On The Reactive Distillation Process For Production Of 1-chloro-1, 1-difluoroethane

1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane is an important chemical product. Now it is produced by a reactor and several distillation towers process. This paper proposed a novel process for producing 1-chloro-l, 1-difluoroethane from vinylidene chloride by reactive distillation technique and carried out a numerical simulation study on the steady behavior of the reactive distillation column. The chemical reaction kinetics and the Murphree stage efficiencies for distillation were acquired on the base of the data from the present process of a plant that consisted of a stirred-tank reactor and three distillation columns in series. The simulation results showed that the integration of all chemical reactions and separation processes of product, by-products and reactants into a single column should be feasible, with high product purity, better selectivity and less by-products.By simulation study, the new reactive distillation process was created and the number of stages, reflux ratio and the drew-out position of product were optimized. Compared to the present process, the new reactive distillation process is able to simplify greatly the production sequence and save much the equipment cost. The following encouraging results were obtained that the production of 1-chloro-l, 1-difluoroethane increased by 6.2%, its yield increased from 90.2% to 97.1%, and the yield of by-product 1,1,1-trifluoroethane reduced by 70.8% for the same feed of vinylidene chloride.