Determination of adsorption and kinetic parameters for methyl acetate esterification and hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by Amberlyst 15

In this paper, the adsorption equilibrium constants, dispersion coefficients, and kinetic parameters were obtained for the liquid phase reversible reaction of methanol with acetic acid catalyzed by Amberlyst 15. The adsorption and kinetic parameters are determined corresponding to two different mobile phases, methanol and water. Such parameters are required for three different applications of the model reaction: namely, synthesis of methyl acetate, removal of dilute acetic acid from wastewater, and hydrolysis of methyl acetate. Experiments were conducted in a packed bed reactor in the temperature range 313–323 K using a rectangular pulse input. A mathematical model for a quasi-homogeneous kinetics was developed. The adsorption and kinetic parameters together with their dependence on temperature were determined by tuning the simulation results to fit the experimentally measured breakthrough curves of acetic acid, water (or methanol) and methyl acetate using a state-of-the-art optimization technique, the genetic algorithm. The mathematical model was further validated using the tuned parameters to predict experimental results at different feed concentrations and flow rates. The kinetics reported in this study was obtained under conditions free of both external and internal mass transfer resistance. The computed parameters were found to predict experimental elution profiles for both batch and plug flow reactors reasonably well. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.