Research paperProcess intensification of esterification reaction for the production of propyl butyrate by pervaporation

Pervaporation is a membrane separation process vastly used for purification in chemical and allied industries. Esterification reaction can be intensified and enhanced by coupling with pervaporation reactor (PVR). Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polyethersulfone (PES) composite membrane was used for the pervaporation coupled esterification reaction study. Esterification of butyric acid with n-propanol was taken as a model reaction for the study and to test the performance of pervaporation reactor. Catalyst p-toluenesulfonic acid was used for the esterification reaction. The effects of various reaction parameters on conversion of butyric acid such as reaction temperature, initial molar ratio of n-propanol to butyric acid, catalyst loading and reaction time were studied. Experimental results show that the increase of temperature, initial molar ratio, and catalyst concentration enhance the conversion of butyric acid considerably. The highest conversion of 96.41% was obtained at temperature 353 K, molar ratio of 2 and catalyst loading of 2.5%w/w at reaction time of 420 minutes. PVA/PES membrane used in the experiments shows the good activity and hydrophilicity and plays a vital role for enhancing the conversion by selectively removing water. Pervaporation coupled esterification shows the better choice over the conventional route for the production of esters. This technique is environment friendly and energy intensified approach as it reduces pollution and energy requirement.