Reactive distillation processes are very promising in substituting Sconventional liquid phase reaction processes.
However this technology is not suitable for all kind of processes or types of reaction. Therefore, assessing the feasibility of these
process concepts forms an important area in current and future research and development activities. The present paper focuses
on the feasibility studies based on the construction of residue curve maps for the toluene methylation system. The RCMs were
constructed and analyzed; it is concluded that the process of synthesis of xylenes when carried out in the reactive distillation
column enhances the selectivity of the desired para isomer.
