Water removal by reactive stripping for a solid-acid catalyzed esterification in a monolithic reactor

Solid-acid catalysts are attractive replacements for processes using conventional homogeneous catalysts. In the esterification of an alcohol with a carboxylic acid, however, the side product water strongly inhibits the activity of a solid-acid catalyst. Since an esterification is an equilibrium limited reaction, full conversion is not possible unless one of the products is removed. A novel reactor type, utilizing a solid-acid catalyst coated monolith, is presented in which water can be removed from the liquid reaction mixture by means of reactive stripping. In this manner the inhibition is eliminated and complete conversion can be reached. The advantages of this reactor concept are demonstrated by both experiments and reactor modeling.