Kinetics on Synthesis of Propyl Acetate Catalyzed with Expansible Graphite

Abstract

The reaction for heterogeneous synthesis of propyl acetate catalyzed by expansible graphite was investigated in a stirred batch reactor. By the elimination of internal and external diffusion, the concentration change of acetic acid with reaction time was determined and the parameters of the kinetic model for the reversible second-order reaction were evaluated by the initial reaction rate method. The frequency factor was 5.46 × 10⁷ L/(mol min) and the activation energy was 18.03 kJ/mol under the conditions of 353.2-383.2 K, 101.3 kPa, mass ratio of catalyst is 6-10 % of total mass of acetic arid and propanol. The accuracy of the reaction kinetic equation was testified and the result showed that the calculated values agreed well with the experimental value and the maximum deviation of the calculated value comparing with the experimental results was 10.8 %.