Kinetics of Catalytic Esterification of Propionic Acid with Methanol over Amberlyst 36

The kinetic behavior of heterogeneous esterification of propionic acid with methanol over an acidic cation-exchange resin, Amberlyst 36, was investigated by using a fixed-bed reactor. The kinetic experiments were conducted at temperatures from 313.15 to 333.15 K, and molar ratios of methanol to propionic acid in the feed stream from 1 to 5. The reaction rate was found to increase with increasing temperature, but the equilibrium conversions of propionic acid changed only slightly over the entire range of reaction temperatures indicating that the heat effect of this reaction is minor. It was also found that the equilibrium conversion of propionic acid increases with the molar ratios of feed increasing from 1 to 5. The relative adsorption strength between any two reacting species was determined from the results of binary adsorption experiments. The magnitude of adsorption strengths follows the order of water > methyl propionate > propionic acid > methanol. The kinetic data were correlated with the ideal-quas...