Corrosion metal removal from ethyl acetate production process

A method of producing ethyl acetate, the method comprising:

• reacting ethanol, acetic acid, and an acid catalyst in an esterification reactor to form a product stream comprising the ethyl acetate and water;
• distilling the product stream in a distillation column to form a top stream comprising the ethyl acetate, ethanol, and a water azeotrope, and a bottom stream comprising acetic acid, ethyl acetate, ethanol, water, the acid catalyst, and at least one corrosion metal having an initial corrosion metal concentration in the bottom stream;
• cooling at least a portion of the bottom stream in a settling tank to precipitate at least a first portion of the at least one corrosion metal from the bottom stream and form a supernatant stream;
• contacting at least a portion of the supernatant stream with a cation exchange resin to remove at least a second portion of the at least one corrosion metal from the supernatant stream and form a reduced metal stream;
• evaporating at least a portion of the reduced metal stream in an evaporator tank to purge at least a third portion of the at least one corrosion metal from the reduced metal stream and form a purged stream;
• and
• returning at least a portion of the purged stream to the distillation column,
• wherein:
• the bottom stream is cooled to a temperature of about 45° C. or less in the settling tank, and
• the cooling of the bottom stream and the contacting of the supernatant stream with the cation exchange resin removes at least 75% of the at least one corrosion metal relative to the initial corrosion metal concentration in the bottom stream.