Kao Y.-L.Ward J.D.2019-05-172019-05-17201418761070https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/408931Although off-cut is commonly applied in non-reactive batch distillation, reports of the application of off-cut for batch reactive distillation (BREAD) are quite rare. In order to systematically investigate the use of off-cut in BREAD systems, we develop the optimal BREAD process design with and without off-cut for a canonical set of hypothetical reaction systems and a process for the hydration of methyl lactate. The results show that using off-cut can significantly improve performance, especially when both reactants have boiling points between those of the two products (for a quaternary system), when the product purity specification is high, and when the reaction equilibrium constant is low. The optimal batch recipe including off-cut can also be understood based on the normal boiling point ranking of the reactants and products. ? 2013 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers.BatchDesignDistillationOff-cutOptimizationReactivejournal article10.1016/j.jtice.2013.05.0182-s2.0-84894678905https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84894678905&doi=10.1016%2fj.jtice.2013.05.018&partnerID=40&md5=985e1355b0cba1d22fcf86fe492430cc