Mathematical Modeling and Simulation for Production of MTBE

Chapter Two Literature Survey
possibilities for control are fairly limited, if a design is, therefore, not optimized
before it is built. The most important application of reactive distillation is the
production of fuel ethers because the success of the MTBE process was boosted
by phase out of lead based anti-knock agents in gasoline. These octane
enhancers are nowadays mainly replaced by MTBE or similar oxygenates like
ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) and tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME). For
some time, MTBE has been the fastest growing chemical (Ainsworth, 1991), and
over the last two decade a considerable number of plants for production of these
oxygenate were built, many based on reactive distillation technology.
The concept of combining these two important functions for enhancement
of overall performance is not new in the chemical engineering world. The
recovery of ammonia in the Solvay process from soda ash of the 1860s may be
cited as probably the first commercial application of reactive distillation (Kai, et.
al., 2002). Many old processes have made use of this concept. The production of
propylene oxide, ethylene dichloride, sodium methoxide, and various esters of
carboxylic acids are some examples of processes in which RD has found a place
in some form or another, without attracting attention to a different class of
operation. It was not until the 1980s, when the enormous demand for MTBE
(methyl tertiary butyl ether), that the process gained separate status as a
promising multifunctional reactor and separator. Table (2-1) represent a
different benefits of industrial important reactions either implemented on
commercial scale or have been investigated on laboratory scale, using Reactive
Distillation.
8