MTBE has a high methanol content
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This post was last edited by wx_DayDoesntUnderstandNight59407 on March 6, 2022, at 08:31. Recently, the methanol content in MTBE has been about 1% higher than normal; it is suspected that this is due to the decomposition of MTBE. I hope someone knowledgeable can provide a solution. A generous reward will be given upon resolving the issue
Under normal conditions, MTBE is very stable; it is estimated that the amount of methanol in the feed was not properly controlled, and methanol was not fully separated during product isolation.
Regarding the operational issues of the catalytic distillation column after the MTBE main reactor, generally, any remaining methanol is present only in the unreacted C4 compounds, not in the MTBE itself. By adjusting the operation of the catalytic distillation column, and also through the MTBE desulfurization system, some methanol can be removed from the heavy fraction, but this is rather wasteful. As a general rule, there should be no methanol in the MTBE, with only a small amount present in the unreacted C4 compounds
It is likely that the temperature in the lower column of catalytic distillation is low, or there are operational fluctuations that prevent the methanol in MTBE from being completely vaporized. You can try raising the temperature of the lower tower a bit. Good luck!