The etherification of tert-amyl alcohol with ethanol was carried out in a reactive distillation column inserted by a zeolite NaA membrane tube. Experimental tests were carried out in both of a pervaporation module and a reactive distillation column. Under suitable conditions, the pervaporation tests have shown higher than 99.9% H2O mole fraction in the permeate. The design by the residue curve maps has shown the alleviation of azeotropes of H2O-reaction components mixtures under pervaporation. The experimental study at standard conditions has shown a gain of 10% in tert-amyl ethyl ether (TAEE) yield when the zeolite membrane tube was inserted inside the distillation column. Further improvements in TAEE yield were realized when the feed location was separated and the time factor or the reflux ratios was increased. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.