3. Acetate manufacturing, process and technology 3.1 Chemistry of cellulose acetylation

Abstract Nowadays Celluloseacetate is mainly produced with the acetic acid process. After an activation with acetic acid and sulfuric acid the acetylation of the cellulose starts by adding acetic anhydride. The temperature and the catalyst concentration play an important role for the reaction. Beneath acetylation also degradation of the cellulose chains occurs. In the first step of the process cellulosetriacetate is formed. In a second step, the hydrolysis, several acetyl groups are removed to achieve an average degree of substitution of 2,5. The water content in this step influences the acetyl distribution.