n-Butyl acrylate production by esterification of acrylic acid with n-butanol combined with pervaporation

• Production of n-butyl acrylate was performed by pervaporation–esterification hybrid process.
• Pervap 2201, polymeric membrane was used to separate water.
• Maximum conversion of acrylic acid was found to be 96.3%.

In this study, the esterification reaction of acrylic acid and n-butanol to produce n-butyl acrylate and water was studied using the pervaporation–esterification hybrid process to perform the separation and reaction simultaneously to increase the conversion of limiting reactant. A Pervap 2201 polymeric membrane was used to separate water and also to shift the equilibrium. The Pervap 2201 membrane showed high selectivity to water in the n-butanol, acrylic acid, n-butyl acrylate, and water reaction system. The effects of temperature, the initial molar ratio of n-butanol to acrylic acid, catalyst loading, and the ratio of membrane area to reaction volume (S/V) were studied. The maximum conversion of acrylic acid was calculated as 96.3% at a temperature of 358 K, a molar ratio of 8, with a catalyst loading of 10 g/L and an S/V ratio of 70 m−1.