Coupling of a fixed-bed reactor and a reactive distillation column was used for acetic acid and ethanol esterification utilizing strong acidic ion-exchange resin as catalyst. Laboratory experiments were focussed on the investigation of catalyst loading effect on reaction conversion in a fixed-bed reactor at the temperature interval between 60 and 120 C with partial separation of products in the form of their azeotropic mixture by the flash distillation. This procedure increased the reaction conversion above chemical equilibrium. The experimental results achieved with a reactive distillation column of the overall efficiency of 14 theoretical stages (1 reaction stage) were successfully compared with numerical simulation by means of AspenPlus software. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.