Reactive distillation processes couple chemical reactions and physical separations into a single unit operation. The combination of reaction and separation within a single unit operation not only reduces the overall capital cost of a process but also provides process benefits in some cases. These benefits arise from the continuous recycling of reactants to the reaction zone which increases the conversion of the limiting reactant in an equilibrium reaction. A secondary benefit is the increased energy efficiency which results from direct utilization of heat of reaction for fractionation. These...