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Abstract:
A comparison of various process configurations was made for the production of 2-methoxy-2,4,4-trimetylpentane which is a promising gasoline component owing low solubility to water and high octane value. The ether is synthesised by reacting methanol with a mixture of 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene and 2,4,4-trimethyl-2-pentene, which are obtained in a large scalefrom the dimerisation of isobutene. The reaction equilibria were determined experimentally at temperature range 323- 383 K in liquid phase using a commercial cation exchange resin Amberlyst 35 as catalyst. A first order kinetic model was developed and utilised in the process simulations. The production of the ether was found to inefficient in a once throug tubular reactor, because the conversion is stronly limited by the reaction equilibrium. Reactive distillation increases the conversion considerably.
