Comparative analysis of two methyl acetate production technologies: Investigation based on process modelling and simulation

• Technical evaluation of two methyl acetate production technologies; • Reactive distillation of acetic acid with methanol and carbonylation of DME for methyl acetate production; • Process modelling and simulation of the proposed technologies; • Natural gas as starting raw-material for methyl acetate production; • The production of methyl acetate through DME carbonylation is more energetically efficient. The present research study focuses on simulating and comparing two technologies for the methyl acetate production process. The two investigated technologies are represented by the reactive distillation of acetic acid with methanol and carbonylation of dimethyl ether. Both processes use natural gas as the starting raw material and involve the transformation of synthesis gas into methanol. Subsequently, methanol acts as a precursor for either acetic acid or dimethyl ether production, depending on the selected technology. CHEMCAD process simulator software was used as a chemical engineering tool for generating mass and heat balances on which various technical key performance indicators (i.e., energy consumption, equipment requirements, and overall efficiency) were furthermore calculated and compared. The simulation study encompasses the entire production chain, from synthesis gas generation to final methyl acetate synthesis, offering detailed descriptions, assumptions, and discussions of each step. A productivity of 250 kmol/h, equivalent to 18,519.75 kg/h, was set for both production routes. The novelty aspects of the present study consist of a detailed technical evaluation of the two proposed technologies The study demonstrates that the production of methyl acetate through the carbonylation of dimethyl ether is more energetically efficient than the production via reactive distillation of methanol with acetic acid. Moreover, the production of methyl acetate through the carbonylation of dimethyl ether achieved a higher purity of methyl acetate, a lower thermal consumption, a lower electric power consumption, and a reduced number of equipments indicating a more efficient and higher quality production process.