Activity Based Model Development for Esterification Reaction of‐Propionic Acid and n‐Propyl Alcohol With Solid Acidic Catalyst

ABSTRACT The esterification reaction of n‐propyl alcohol with n‐propionic acid using Indion 140 solid catalyst is carried out in an isothermal batch reactor to produce n‐propyl propionate and water. The reaction temperature is maintained in the range of 333–353 K and the catalyst loading varies from 0.01 to 0.03 g/cc. The mole ratio of n‐propionic acid and n‐propyl alcohol varies from 1:1 to 1:6. The influence of various parameters such as temperature, catalyst loading, initial reactant molar ratio, catalyst size, and agitation speed on the reaction rate are investigated. From the experimental results, it is observed that the reaction is kinetic controlled rather than mass transfer controlled. A second‐order pseudo‐homogeneous kinetic rate equation is used to fit the experimental data. The activation energies and forward reaction rate constants are obtained from the Arrhenius plot. The comparison of the simulation results with the experimental data indicates the second‐order pseudo‐homogeneous non‐ideal kinetic model better describes the behavior of the esterification reaction. The rate equation thus developed in this work can be used in modeling and design of catalytic distillation involving esterification of propionic acid with propanol.