Abstract: Taking advantage of the hydrophilicity of zeolite A membrane, it was used as a vapor permeation membrane to remove the water generated from the esterification between acrylic acid and ethanol with the presence of p-toluene sulphonic acid as catalyst. This allowed to efficiently separate in situ formed water from the reactor, shift the esterification toward right side and hence substantially enhance the conversion of acrylic acid. Up to 100% conversion could be achieved within 15 h.

Key words: P-toluenesulfonic Acid, NaA Zeolite Membrane, Vapor Permeation, Ethyl Acrylate