Question 2

Synthesize the reactor and separation systems for the process through heuristics
O H CO O H C O O H C
2 2 4 6 6 2 6 12 6
11 8 17
3
7
(Reaction 1)
4 10 6 2 4 6 6
2 O H C H O H C (Reaction 2)
C
6
H
10
O
4
is the desired product

Reactor and Separator Synthesis

This reaction can be classified as Multiple in Series Reaction. The desired product which
is adipic acid produced in the second reaction. The first reaction is basically the
fermentation of muconic acid from glucose and oxygen which the muconic acid is later
used to produce adipic acid through hydrogenation. The hydrogenation under 3400 kPa
of hydrogen pressure on activated carbon at room temperature afforded a 87%
conversion. For the both reaction which is fermentation and hydrogenation, we neglect
the selectivity as there is no existence of competing reaction.

Because glucose addition is controlled by the dissolved oxygen concentration, increased
oxygen availability was expected to increase glucose addition to the medium, which
should translate into higher concentrations of synthesized cis, cismuconic acid.

Reactor 1:
Reactor 1 is a plug flow reactor
Plug flow reactor with recycle stream. The recycle stream in plug flow reactor is used to
recycle back the unconverted glucose to the feed. The main function of recycle stream
here is to increase the yield of the muconic acid.
Reactor 1 Operating Condition:
i. Excess of Reactant: The limiting reactant here is glucose, so the oxygen should be
in excess to force the completion of reaction
ii. Concentration: The concentration of glucose and oxygen should be kept at an
optimum level. This is because high concentration of glucose and oxygen will
break down the fermenting agent, E.coli and low concentration of the reactants
will lead to poor conversion of the product.
iii. Temperature and Pressure: The temperature and pressure of the reaction should
be kept at ambient temperature and pressure, which is 25 C and 101.325kPa to
achieve a better conversion. This is because the fermentation reaction is
exothermic and therefore we have to keep the temperature low to take
advantage on the conversion. Besides, at high temperature, the fermenting
agent will start to break down.

Separators used: Flash column and Distillation Column
Right after the reactor, the product muconic acid and by product carbon dioxide and
water is separated in flash column. Flash column is chosen because it is an ideal
phase separator to separate liquid and gases. The more volatile compound, carbon
dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen are flashed to the top product stream whereas the
muconic acid and water leave at the bottom. The mixture of muconic acid and water
is then separated again by using distillation column. Muconic acid with higher boiling
point (320
o
C) is separated to the top stream while water with lower boiling point
(100
o
C) leaves at the bottom. Then, the muconic acid is mixed with hydrogen and
enter the second reactor.
Reactor 2: Plug flow reactor, the main function of the plug flow reactor in the second
reaction is to control the residence time so that we can maximize the production of
adipic acid.

Reactor 2 Operating Condition:
i. Excess of Reactant: The limiting reactant in this reactor is Muconic acid, so
the hydrogen had to be in excess in order for the reaction to complete
ii. Temperature and Pressure: According to Xiaoyan et. al (2011), the pressure
and temperature of hydrogenation reaction must be kept at 1000psi and
210C respectively to obtain optimum conversion
iii. Catalyst: According to Xiaoyan et. al (2011), rhenium is used as a catalyst of
the production of Adipic acid from the reaction from Muconic acid and
Hydrogen.



Separators used: Flash column and Distillation Column
Right after the reactor, the Adipic acid and the by product which is Hydrogen and
un-reacted Muconic acid is separated in flash column. The more volatile compound
which is Hydrogen is flashed to the top product and Adipic acid and Muconic acid
are left at the bottom. After that, the 2 acids is separated using a distillation column
where Muconic acid is the distillate and the bottom product is Adipic acid as Adipic
acid has a higher boiling point compare to Muconic acid. As Muconic acid had a
boiling point of 320
o
C and Adipic acid had a boiling point of 337.5
o
c. Finally, we get
the end product of our reaction which is Adipic acid.














References
She, X., Zhang X., Brown H.M., Ahring, B.K. and Wang.Y (2011). Selective hydrogenation
of trans, trans-muconic acid to adipic acid over a titania-supported rhenium catalyst.
Niu, W., Draths, K.M. and Frost, J.W. (2002). Benzene-free synthesis of adipic acid.



Temperature, pH, and glucose feeding were controlled with proportional-integral-
derivative (PID) control loops. Temperature was maintained at 36 C for all
fermentations. pH was maintained at 7.0 by addition of concentrated NH4OHor 2 N
H2SO4. Dissolved oxygen Biotechnol. Prog., 2002, Vol. 18, No. 2 203 (D.O.) was
measured using a Mettler-Toledo 12-mm sterilizable O2 sensor fitted with an Ingold A-
type O2 permeable membrane. D.O. was maintained at 10% air saturation. The initial
glucose concentration in the fermentation medium ranged from 20 to 24 g/L. Fedbatch
fermentations were run in duplicate, and reported results represent an average of the
two runs.