Subsequent treatment of ethyl acetate hydrolysis
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Using sulfuric acid as a catalyst, the yield of ethyl acetate hydrolysis is not high； But it is hoped that the product will contain 80% acetic acid and 80% ethanol. Currently, hydrolysis is to be carried out (with a volume ratio of ethyl acetate to water of 1:1), followed by separation into layers; the lower aqueous layer is then sent to a distillation tower for distillation, while the upper layer is returned to the hydrolysis reactor for further hydrolysis, and this process is repeated cyclically. Whether acetic acid and ethanol of the desired purity are obtained in the subsequent distillation process. If that doesn’t work, then would it be feasible to use extractive distillation in the next tower, with water as the extractant? Thank you~~
From a technical standpoint, this is feasible, but it involves high energy consumption. Currently, ethyl acetate is produced by reacting acetic acid with ethanol using sulfuric acid or organic acids as catalysts. There seems no need to hydrolyze it using water to obtain acetic acid and ethanol again, as the production processes for acetic acid and ethanol are already highly developed, allowing for high levels of purity and low levels of impurities.
This is only for teaching purposes, to achieve the recycling of materials.
Theoretically, it should also be difficult to achieve this. Ethanol in water can be separated due to its low boiling point, but acetic acid, water, and sulfuric acid are likely to be difficult to separate from each other; therefore, this approach is probably not feasible.
There are still ways to improve the yield of the hydrolysis step earlier on, by changing the raw material ratios (molar ratio, ester:water = 1:2.5), the catalyst (10–20 ml of 98% concentrated sulfuric acid), the reaction time (1 hour), and the reaction temperature (70°C), among other things.