.jpg)
Sulzer’s technology for reactive distillation
Sulzer’s reactive distillation combines reaction and separation into a single, efficient unit operation. This method is ideal for equilibrium-limited reactions involving volatile components, where continuous byproduct removal is crucial for conversion and product quality. With expertise in reactor design and separation, Sulzer delivers complete solutions for esterification, hydrolysis, and acetalization. Our proprietary Katapak™ catalytic packing enables simultaneous reaction, enhancing productivity, purity, and energy efficiency while reducing CAPEX and OPEX costs.
Maximized product purity
Achieve unparalleled purity and color with zero odor
Lower CAPEX and OPEX
Combine multiple reactors and columns into ONE
Reduced by products and wastes
Avoid side reactions and minimize purge
Main Benefits
Key Applications
Consistently high product quality, setting new standard for the industry in terms of purity, color and odor level
Lower CAPEX and OPEX, combining unit operations and minimizing maintenance cost to achieve higher energy efficiency and performance. Examples are KataptakTM and divided wall column
Extended catalyst lifespan (> 7 years) and boosted selectivity (up to 99.5%), thanks to careful selection catalyst and reactor design
Reduction and elimination of waste streams, integrating novel recycling, but also minimizing side reactions and downstream processing
Fatty acid esters:
Isopropyl palmitate (IPP), myristate (IPM), and laurate (IPL), 2-Ethyl hexyl palmitate (2-EHP) and stearate (2-EHS), n-butyl oleate (NBO), stearate (NBS)
Acetates synthesis and their hydrolysis: methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, and butyl-acetates
Acetals and methylal
Diglycol-dibenzoate
Wastewater treatment (carboxylic acid removal)
%20(1).webp)
Get in touch
Harris Luk
Global product line manager
Contact our expert for more information about Excelot.
Within the chemistry world, numerous reactions are equilibrium-limited. To facilitate the production of certain compounds, it is essential to remove reaction byproducts, shifting the equilibrium towards the product side. Reactive distillation combines distillation and chemical reaction in a single unit. Sulzer’s reactive distillation is renowned for its optimized solutions for specialty esters, their hydrolysis, and acetalization reactions. For certain applications, Sulzer offers Katapak™ as premium packing for simultaneous reaction and byproduct removal, enhancing productivity, purity, and energy efficiency, while reducing maintenance costs and waste streams.
-
Consistently high product quality, achieving >99% purity. In the case of oleochemical industry, our technology set new standard in terms of purity, color and odor level.
-
Lower CAPEX and OPEX, combining reaction and distillation into single unit operation. The higher energy efficiency and performance with fewer operating units drastically reduce investment and utility costs.
-
Extended catalyst lifespan (> 7 years) and boosted selectivity (up to 99.5%), thanks to careful selection catalyst and reactor design.
-
Reduction and elimination of waste streams. By integrating novel recycling process, side reactions are minimized and simplifies the downstream processing.
-
-
Petrochemicals and chemical industries synthesizing acetates
-
Cosmetic and healthcare industries that utilize fatty acid esters
-
Specialty chemical industry manufacturing resins, adhesives, paints and spray.
-
Indeed, most of the chemical plants producing acetates or fatty acid esters already exist. Rather than building completely new plant, Sulzer reactive distillation can also be a great PLUS for integrating with existing process. By breaking the limitation on equilibrium, Sulzer reactive distillation technology can help our customers to achieve unmatched product purity and reduce recycle stream. In turn, the existing plant can also achieve higher production capacity. With extensive know-how and process heritage, we can also recommend the most viable options to facilitate the revamping or upgrading process.
Sulzer’s reactive distillation solutions are highly adaptable to a wide range of chemical processes and production scales. Whether for small specialty chemical batches or large-scale continuous operations, our systems can be tailored to meet specific reaction kinetics, separation requirements, and throughput targets.
We offer flexible configurations using Katapak™ internals, various catalyst types, and column designs to optimize performance. Our modular approach allows for easy expansion or adaptation as market demands evolve, ensuring long-term value and operational agility.
Latest posts
You may also be interested in...
.jpg)
.jpg)