(190a) Separation of Dmc/Methanol Azeotrope By Heat Integrated Distillation Equipped with Pervap Membrane

E3Tec has developed Heat Integrated Reactive Distillation (HIRD) process equipped with side reactors and PerVaporization (PerVap) membrane for conversion of CO₂ to dimethyl carbonate (DMC). Separation of DMC/methanol azeotrope for achieving high-concentration (99.9%+) DMC is energy intensive. E3Tec has developed an integrated distillation for separation of DMC/methanol azeotrope by recovery of the overheat latent heat, internal thermal integration and PerVap integrated with the distillation column. The resulting DMC purity of 99.9%+ was achieved as bottom product and DMC in the overhead methanol-rich stream is reduced. Methanol is recycled in the CO₂ conversion process as feed to side reactors; therefore, minimizing DMC content in the recycled methanol stream is preferred for a reversible, equilibrium- controlled reaction. The analysis was based on the ASPEN Plus® simulation of the integrated distillation subsystem. The project was supported by DOE SBIR program.