Obtaining isoamyl acetate from fusel oils Simulation of the process

Abstract

The fusel oils are co-products of alcoholic distillation, rich in many compounds, which can be use as high value products. In this article we propose a system to obtain isoamyl acetate, from fusel oils. The ester produce constitute a high value product in pharmaceutical, food, and painting industry. The process consists of three principal stages to obtain isoamyl acetate with high purity: distillation of fusel oils to separate isoamyl alcohols, reaction of these alcohols with acetic acid, and separations of the reaction products with distillation. We determinate the principal uses of fusel oils and different methods of production of isoamyl acetate by a bibliographic research. Also it´s have be done the plant simulation with professional software Aspen-Hysys, obtaining flow process diagram, mass and energy balance, and process analysis. The balances show that it is possible to process 750 kg/h of fusel, to produce 626 kg/h of isoamyl acetate with 99,9% of purity, using in reaction 299 kg/h of acetic acid, and 17 768 kg/h of saturated steam and 435 m3/h of water, to distillation and reaction operation.