Economic and Environmental Assessment of Intensified Reactive Distillation for Isopropyl Myristate Production with n-Propanol as a Reactant

Abstract Reactive distillation has emerged as a promising alternative to produce fatty acid esters due to its potential to reduce equipment requirements and energy consumption. This study presents an economic and environmental assessment of the production of isopropyl myristate via esterification of myristic acid with n-propanol using reactive distillation. The process was simulated considering two process configurations: a conventional base case with two distillation columns, and an intensified case involving the addition of an external solvent and a decanter. The two configurations were evaluated at pressures of 1 and 3 bar, considering a closed recycle loop for the intensified case, unlike the references found in the literature. The solvent flow rate determined for the closed-loop recycle model at 1 bar and 3 bar, calculated based on simulation convergence, was approximately 134 times lower than the value reported in the literature for an open-loop recycle; this corresponds to a 64.22% difference in energy consumption for the intensified process, maintaining product purity constraints. The optimization of operating conditions based on Total Annual Cost using the simulated annealing algorithm indicates that the intensified configuration presents the best results, with the operation at 1 bar demonstrates the best economic performance (40.84% reduction) and the lowest environmental impact according to the Eco-indicator 99 metric (7.36% reduction), contributing to a more sustainable process for the production isopropyl myristate compared to the conventional case.