Enhancement of Conversion using Ceramic Membrane in Esterification of Acrylic Acid with Butanol

The esterification reaction between butanol and acrylic acid was performed in a batch reactor coupled with ceramic membrane. The tubular ceramic membrane was used to selectively remove water which coursed during the reaction. Due to water removal, equilibrium shifted to the product side and conversion of acrylic acid increased. The effects of some process parameters such as temperature, catalyst loading, molar ratio of reactants on conversion of acrylic acid and flux of water were investigated. Especially, the increases in temperature facilities increase in conversion of acrylic acid markedly.