Evaluation of Transfer Resistances in the Reactive Distillation Process for Phenol Production

The transfer resistances of the reactive distillation (RD) process for phenol production by using a dry resin called Amberlyst 35DRY as a catalyst were evaluated, including the transport resistance between vapor-liquid phases and the mass and heat transfer resistances of catalyst. The calculated results showed that the temperature of the reactive section in the RD column significantly increased after considering the influence of the transfer resistances between vapor-liquid phases. Subsequently, studies relevant to the catalyst showed that the catalytic packing with catalyst film grown on the conventional structured packing surface had significantly higher catalyst effectiveness, in comparison with other types (MULTIPAK-I, etc.). Results of this work indicated that transfer resistances cannot be neglected in the RD process for phenol production, and the evaluation of them is significantly beneficial to the design and development of the process.