Simulation and optimization of the thermally coupled reactive distillation column for producing toluene diisocynate

Abstract Toluene diisocyanate is an important chemical intermediate prepared by phosgenation reaction with two steps named cold and thermal phosgenation, respectively. The thermal phosgenation reaction is a complex reactive distillation process with high energy consumption and multiple targets of reaction and separation, so it is of great significance to optimize the step. The reactive distillation model of the thermal phosgenation was established for an industrial installation by aspen plus, and the effects of the different parameters of temperatures, residence times, etc., were investigated firstly; then a thermally coupled reactive distillation column was presented to perform the thermal phosgenation process, and the optimal operation and configuration parameters were obtained by simulation. The results showed that the proposed process can save the heat and cold energy with 7.29% and 32.78%, respectively, and reduce the total annual cost by about 17.11%.