Reaction Kinetics of Catalytic Esterification of Nonanoic Acid with Ethanol over Amberlyst 15

The kinetic behaviour of heterogeneous esterification of nonanoic acid with ethanol over an acidic cation exchange resin, Amberlyst 15, was investigated in a batch reactor and effect of various parameters such as catalyst loading, molar ratio and reaction temperature on degree of fractional conversion has been studied. Internal and external diffusions were found to be negligible in this study. Nonideality of the liquid phase was taken into account by using activities instead of concentrations. The activity coefficients were estimated using UNIFAC group contribution method. Eley-Rideal (ER) kinetic model was used to interpret the obtained kinetic data. The temperature-dependent initial reaction rate constants and the adsorption coefficients for ethanol and water were determined from the observed experimental data obtained at different initial concentration of acid, alcohol and water. Activation energy and pre-exponential factor of the reaction were found to be 53.7 kJ mol(-1) and 1.51 x 10(5) l(2) g(-1) mol(-1) h(-1) respectively.