39. Reducing Global Warming by Process Integration

In an attempt to contribute to the reduction of global warming, the integration of both reaction and separation in a single unit to bring about an improvement in the energy efficiency of the overall process is studied in this chapter. The esterification reaction between acetic acid and ethanol for the production of ethyl acetate (desired product) and water (by-product) is used as the case study. In order to demonstrate the role of the integrated process in global warming reduction, both the conventional system and the integrated one are studied. The conventional system is made up of a reactor (in which the chemical reaction takes place) and a distillation column (in which the desired product is purified) whereas the integrated system consists of a single unit having a single main column divided into three sections (rectification section, reaction section, and stripping section). Comparing the two systems, the results that are obtained from the studies reveal that, for the integrated system, the heat released to the atmosphere from the condenser (that is, the condenser duty) and the one supplied to the reboiler (the reboiler duty) are less than those of the conventional system. These results have actually shown the importance of process integration in reducing global warming and increasing process efficiency. It is therefore suggested to the industrial engineers to always integrate their processes, where possible, in order to contribute their quotas in reducing global warming.