Ethyl Acetate
Davy Process Technology has developed a process that enables ethyl acetate and a valuable hydrogen by-product stream to be produced directly from ethanol. The process takes advantage of the current industrial focus on renewable resources and the expansion in fermentation ethanol production and breaks the feedstock link to volatile oil prices.
Dry ethanol is dehydrogenated to produce a crude ethyl acetate stream. This is selectively hydrogenated to remove certain by-products that cannot be separated by distillation. The innovative refining section then splits the azeotrope to produce a high purity ethyl acetate product. Unreacted ethanol is recycled to a dehydration unit where it is combined with fresh ethanol and dried.
This process, which has been recognised by a number of awards including a Kirkpatrick Honour Award, produces a high purity product. By-product hydrogen can provide producers with a key feedstock for further downstream processes, the purity and pressure being adjusted to meet downstream requirements
A 50,000 TPA plant is in operation in South Africa and a further plant using fermentation ethanol feedstock is in the design phase.
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