A) PROPOSE PROCESS/TECHNIQUE IN ACETIC ACID (HAc) RECOVERY

(SELECTIVITY, COST, EFFICIENCY, IMPACT TO ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY ISSUES

ETC)

The best technique for separation and purification of two miscible liquid such as acetic acid
and water to get desired product is by using liquid-liquid extraction. This method require a
third component known as solvent that immiscible when contact with one of them so that the
separation can occur in the extraction. Therefore, in order to get high recovery of acetic acid,
extractive distillation is the best solution among others. In this case, the separation of acetic
acid from water is by using hexanol as addition solvent. There are some factors that need to
be consider when choosing the best technique for recovery of acetic acid. The idea of this
technique must be economical, high selectivity (separation factor), high purity of products,
less equipment supply, low temperature and low energy, environmentally friendly and use
safe solvent.

The first factor for engineer must consider is the cost for the operation either worth or not to
be fund by the company. As we compared between extractive distillation and simple
distillation there are much differences in term of cost investment. The separation of dilute
solution by using conventional distillation without extractive distillation first, can be
impractical and uneconomical because conventional distillation required large amount of
trays and a high reflux ratio compared to extractive distillation. Distillation generally
required high running cost when vaporizing water that exist in high quantity which can lead
to large amount of latent heat vaporization. Thus, high temperature and high energy demand
in the simple distillation compared to extractive distillation.

The selectivity in liquid-liquid extraction must consider solvent solubility toward one of the
two components either acetic acid or water for the extraction. Selectivity can be clearly
defined as the ratio of the distribution coefficient of A to distribution coefficient of B.
Generally, selectivity exceed unity will be more preferred in the extraction solvent because
solvent is the key to a successful separation by Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE).In this case,
hexanol had been chosen as solvent because it has low solubility in feed and chemically non-
reactive with the feed components. For this system, hexanol exist in raffinate stream as
undesired products because it has lower volatility and higher boiling point compared to acetic
acid. Thus, acetic acid discharged as vapor to avoid increment of boiling point when passing
into organic phase.

Another factor is efficiency of the method in order high purity of acetic acid can be extracted
in the process. Since hexanol have higher boiling point than acetic acid, it will flow out at
raffinate stream. Then, hexanol from raffinate stream can be recover or recycle from the
distillation column into extractive column without forming azeotrope with the extracted
solute. Thus, the recovery of acetic acid will increase in extraction stream besides cost for the
solvent require can be reduce. Moreover, extractive distillation require addition solvent
which will effect volatility of water for the separation. Thus, less energy consumption
compared to simple rectification demand high energy for vaporizing water in top stream. The
presence of solvent in extraction process will lowering reflux ratio compared to simple
distillation which lead to low energy consumption in extractive distillation.

The impact of recovery of acetic acid by using extractive method will reducing pollution of
chemical substance in the environment. By using extractive distillation, vaporization of water
can be minimize and save energy when running the extraction process. Recovery of solvent
also one the techniques in liquid-liquid extraction to reduce waste and improve the purity of
desired solute. In other words, solvent recovery not only cost effective but also eco-friendly
towards environment. Other than that, loss of solvent to waste water can be minimize by
flowing 99% of water in lower stream. For safety aspect, hexanol is a flammability solvent.
Therefore, precaution step need to be taken such as keep away solvent from the heat and
wear appropriate protective clothing when handling the substance. However, hexanol have
low volatility in which hexanol flow as a liquid in raffinate stream rather than vapourize.
This properties will protect human from having skin irritation and respiratory tract irritation
when they inhaled hexanol vapor .In term of toxicity, hexanol consider as moderately
hazardous compared to other substance.