Esterification of Acetic Acid Via Semi-batch Reactive Distillation for Pyrolysis Oil Upgrading: Experimental Approach

In this study, bio-oil upgrading using deoxygenation of acetic acid with heterogeneous solid catalyst via reactive distillation was studied. Two types of solid catalysts were used in the experiments comprising of acid-doped raschig ring and Amberlyst IR 120 H+. The experiments were carried out in a pilot semi-batch reactive distillation column with temperature at reboiler and condenser of around 120oC and 55oC. The experimental results showed that, operated with Amberlyst IR 120 H+, the esterification reaction reached 79.5 percent of acetic conversion and purity of methyl acetate from top stage was 72 mole percent. With acid-doped raschig ring, the purity of methyl acetate from the top stage was 68 mole percent.