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Abstract:
The present work deals with a novel and attractive alternative process route for the production of cyclohexanol by indirect hydration of cyclohexene using reactive distillation. The proposed two-step process comprises the esterification of cyclohexene with formic acid followed by the hydrolysis of the formed ester. The principle feasibility of this new process has recently been proved by means of residue curve analysis [Steyer et al. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2008, 47, 9581−9587]. In the present contribution, detailed equilibrium stage simulations are performed to identify the optimum design and operating conditions for the coupled reactive distillation column scheme. The simulations reveal that it is possible to achieve almost complete conversion of cyclohexene to cyclohexanol with a comparatively low amount of catalyst. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such an outstanding performance of a process for the production of cyclohexanol is reported.
Copyright © 2010 American Chemical Society
[accessed August 26, 2010]
