Esterification of Acetic Acid with Methanol and Simultaneous Product Isolation by Liquid‐Liquid Extraction in a Taylor‐Couette Disc Contactor

Abstract

Isolation of carboxylic acids from dilute aqueous effluents can be achieved by the combination of liquid‐phase catalyzed reaction with liquid‐liquid extraction. Exemplarily the heterogeneously catalyzed esterification of acetic acid with methanol, accelerated with a cation‐exchange resin and simultaneous transfer of the product methyl acetate into the solvent ShellSol T, was successfully performed in a Taylor‐Couette disc contactor (TCDC) in batch operation mode. Stable three‐phase flow (liquid‐liquid‐solid) was confirmed in lab scale. The conversion of acetic acid in a TCDC operated in batch mode compares well with conversion in a batch reactor.