In this work, a dense and acid-resistant beta zeolite membrane was applied to improve the esterification of citric acid and n-butanol, for the first time. Through the continuous removal of the by-product water via pervaporation (PV), the conversion of citric acid was significantly enhanced from 71.7% to 99.2% using p-Toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) as catalyst. PTSA was a well-known strong acid, and the membrane kept almost no change after PV-esterification, indicating the superior acid resistance of beta zeolite membrane. Compared to the use of acid-resistant MOR zeolite membrane by PV-esterification, a consistently higher conversion of citric acid was obtained using a high-flux beta zeolite membrane. The results showed that high water permeation on the beta zeolite membrane, with good acid resistance, had a strong promoting effect on esterification, leading to an improved conversion. In addition, the citric acid conversion of 97.7% could still be achieved by PV-esterification at a low reaction temperature of 388 K.
Keywords: PV-esterification; Tributyl citrate; beta zeolite membrane; high conversion; improved esterification.