Simulation Investigation Of Process Intensification In EMC Production

In recent years,Ethyl Methyl Carbonate(EMC),as a kind of high value-added chemical products,is an important intermediate of chemical synthesis field and it can react with alcohol,phenol,amine,acetate and be used to produce a lot of rechargeable batteries.As a kind of excellent new lithium ion battery electrolyte solvent,the synthesis and application of EMC get more and more attention.The asymmetry of the molecular structure makes EMC show a clear advantage in being used as the electrolyte,fiber and resin,etc.At present,there is a strong demand for the product.Now,the main production method on industrial to produce EMC is intermittent method from dimethy carbonate(DMC)and ethanol(EtOH)via consecutive trans-esterification reaction.This production process is long production period,low production efficiency,high energy consumption.Aiming at this problem,means of process intensification,such as reactive distillation(RD)azeotropic reactive distillation(ARD)reactive dividing wall column(RDWC)are used to produce EMC,and these production methods would be discussed the optimum operating conditions.The mechanism of consecutive trans-esterification reaction is analyzed.In order to properly desribe the phase equilibrium behavior of this reaction system,careful seletion of the thermodynamic and kinetic model is needed.The feasibility of producing EMC via reaction and its advantage relative to intermittent method would be discussed.By simulation calculation and sensitivity analysis of Aspen Plus,optimal operating conditions is founded.Next,the azeotrope of DMC and methanol(MeOH)is founded at the top of reactive distillation column.In order to seprate the azeotrope of DMC and MeOH,Improve the utilization rate of DMC,Extractive distillation(ED)is introduced to seprate the azeotrope.Selecting the appropriate extraction agent,optimizing the operation process conditions is proposed in this study.Azeotropic reactive distillation,integrated processes combining reactive distillation and azeotropic distillation,could be used to produce EMC and separated the azeotrope of MeOH and DMC in one single unit.To deal with the azeotrope of MeOH and DMC by the means of reactive diatillation,ARD is introduced to produce EMC,the best operating conditions should be discussed.Considering the reactive dividing wall column possesses the advantages of reaction distillation technology and dividing wall column,it could be used to produce EMC.This highly intergrated unit enables a more efficient separation of products and offers better thermodynamic efficiency,reducing the side reaction and the energy costs.The different process interfications,such as RD,ARD and RDWC,are introduced to produce EMC.By simulation calculation and optimizing process operation from Aspen Plus,relevant reference for industrialized production of EMC is provided in this paper.