Ada beberapa macam proses yang telah dikembangkan untuk pembuatan Asam Asetat

dalam industri dengan cara sebagai berikut :

1. Asam Asetat dari Asetaldehid dan Udara
Pembuatan Asam Asetat dari Asetaldehid dan Udara dilakukan pada suhu 60 – 80oC dan
tekanan 3 - 10 bar (Ullmann). Pada kisaran suhu tersebut 4 mol udara masuk ke dalam
reaktor
untuk setiap 1 mol Asetaldehid. Sebagai katalis adalah Mangan Asetat. Dengan konversi
25%
diperoleh kemurnian Asam Asetat 99 % (Faith , K., 1975). Reaksi yang terjadi :
CH3CHO + ½ O2 ===> CH3COOH
2. Asam Asetat dari Metanol dan Karbon Monoksida
Asam Asetat dibuat dengan mereaksikan CH3OH dan CO. Perbandingan bahan baku
masuk
reaktor adalah 90 – 95 % Karbon Monoksida, 0 – 5% Hidrogen dan 5 % Metanol. Katalis
yang digunakan adalah Rhodium dan Iodin. Reaksi berlangsung pada suhu 350 oC dan
tekanan 700 atm. Reaksi umumnya berlangsung selama 1,5 – 2 jam.
Reaksi yang terjadi :
CH3OH + CO ===> CH3COOH
The carbonylation process of methanol is carried out in a continuous stirred tank reactor.
The methanol and carbon monoxide is fed to the reactor from the bottom as feed. The
carbon monoxide is compressed in a compressor to 30 bar before inlet to the reactor to
ensure the reaction is occurs in the liquid phase. The reaction is highly exothermic and
hence a cooling jacket is provided outside the reactor to ensure that the proper
temperature of 150oC is maintained in the reactor. The initial heat required to ignite the
reaction is mainly rough age of steam through the jacket. As the reaction starts, the heat of
reaction is used to continue the reaction and excess heat is removed.
The following will be the process flow diagram for methanol carbonylation route.
The unreacted gases are vented out through a scrubber which also works as a preheater
for a part of methanol feed. A part of methanol feed is preheated from ambient
temperature to 60oC as it comes out of the scrubber Another work that is performed by
the side stream is the stripping of entrained liquid in the vent gases and it also ensures
that the loss of product with these gases is minimal. The vent gases generally exit the
scrubber at 50oC to the atmosphere.
The product stream from the CSTR, is rich in acetic acid and containing small
concentrations of methanol, by-product propionic acid and water is made to pass through
the throttling valve to the flash tank where the product is flashed to a reduced pressure
of 1 atm. The product from the flash tank is fed to the light end distillation column at a
temperature of 52oC. A recycle stream is pumped from the bottom of the flash tank back
to the CSTR.
In the light end distillation column the feed containing acetic acid, water, propionic acid,
methanol and methyl acetate is distilled to separate light ends (methyl acetate and
methanol) from the bottom stream containing acetic acid, propionic acid and little
concentration of water. The acetic acid is generally 87.6 % by wt. which is further purified
in the acid purification unit to obtain the required product. The feed stream enters at a
temperature of about 52oC and the bottom stream leaves the end column at a temperature of
97oC. In the acid purification unit, the stream enters at a temperature of 97oC. The higher
boiling
component propionic acid is obtained from the bottom of the distillation tower where a
temperature of 123oC is maintained. Glacial Acetic acid (99.8% by wt.) is obtained from the
top of the distillation tower, maintained at 118oC.

(PDF) Manufacture of Acetic acid through the methanol carbonylation route.. Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296525796_Manufacture_of_Acetic_acid_through_the
_methanol_carbonylation_route [accessed Sep 07 2018].

Methanol Carbonylation route

Undoubtedly the methanol carbonylation route has a much greater production when compared to
any other processes i.e. it holds 75% of the world’s acetic acid production technologies.
Production of Acetic acid by carbonylation of methanol used to be done by a process
named as Monsanto process where Rhodium catalyst was used as an active catalyst with
iodide of metals such as lithium. The process was carried at 50-60 bar pressure and at a
temperature of 150 to 200oC giving a high selectivity of 99% based on the methanol feed. But
B.P chemicals came up with a process named as Cativa that used Iridium catalyst with
Hydrogen iodide as the active catalyst in the system.
Henry Drefyus at British Celanese developed a methanol carbonylation pilot plant as early as
1925. However, a lack of practical materials that could contain the corrosive reaction mixture at
the high pressures needed (200 atm or more) discouraged commercialization of these routes. The
first commercial methanol carbonylation process, which used a cobalt catalyst, was developed by
German chemical company BASF in 1963. In 1968, a rhodium-based catalyst (cis−
[Rh(CO)2I2]−) was discovered that could operate efficiently at lower pressure with almost no
by-
products. The first plant using this catalyst was built by US chemical company Monsanto
Company in 1970, and rhodium-catalyzed methanol carbonylation became the dominant method
of acetic acid production. In the late 1990s, the chemicals company BP Chemicals
commercialized the Cativa catalyst ([Ir(CO)2I2]−), which is promoted by ruthenium. This
iridium
catalyzed process is greener and more efficient and has largely supplanted the Monsanto process,
often in the same production plants.

(PDF) Manufacture of Acetic acid through the methanol carbonylation route.. Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296525796_Manufacture_of_Acetic_acid_through_the
_methanol_carbonylation_route [accessed Sep 07 2018].