Comprehensive analysis of the design and optimization of the synthesis and purification process of dimethyl maleate

Abstract

Dimethyl maleate (DMM) serves as an important refined chemical intermediate with broad industrial application value. This paper performs a comprehensive analysis of the design and optimization of the synthesis and purification process for DMM. The sequential iterative algorithm is used to optimize the total annual cost (TAC) as the optimization objective. This paper innovatively proposes the implementation of a side-stream extraction of a portion of the product during reaction distillation column. Focusing on energy efficiency, we further propose an energy-saving solution: utilizing the side-stream extraction stream to preheat the feed stream. This approach has significant potential for reducing economic costs and minimizing energy consumption. A Side Stream Conventional Reaction Distillation (SS-CRD) is designed for the synthesis and purification for DMM. The synthesis and purification process for DMM is divided into two parts: “Reaction section” and “Purification section”. Based on the SS-CRD process, to further enhance energy efficiency, feed preheating is added to the Reaction section and heat pump distillation is added to the Purification section. Therefore, a Feed Preheating Side Stream Reaction Distillation process with Heat Pump (FPSS-RD-HP) as an assisting method is designed for the synthesis and purification for DMM. Through comprehensive analysis and evaluation, FPSS-RD-HP has the optimal economic performance. Compared with SS-CRD, FPSS-RD-HP reduces TAC by 26.49 %, TEC by 23.13 %, and CO₂ by 36.09 %.