Esterification in a structured catalytic reactor with counter-current water removal

In this research the liquid phase esterification of hexanoic acid and I-octanol was studied. Very high activities were obtained for zeolite BEA and Nafion/silica composite with 13% of Nafion. The advantage of water removal in this system was demonstrated. In a closed system an equilibrium conversion of 35% was reached, while in a system with water removal all the reactants were converted in a shorter period. The initial reaction rate decreases when increasing the initial water concentration, following a Langmuir-Hinshelwood type of rate expression. An active zeolite coated structured monolithic reactor configuration was prepared. Enhancement by the counter-current water stripping of the performance of the structured catalysts was demonstrated. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.