Kinetics of liquid-phase esterification catalyzed by acidic resins

The characteristics of ion-exchange resins provide the basis for many processes of practical interest involving both sorption separations and catalytic reactions. The optimal design and operation of these processes require a proper understanding of the equilibrium behavior of multicomponent liquid mixtures in contact with cross-linked polymeric resins, in terms of both the amount and composition of the sorbed mixture. For this, a model which describes the equilibrium between a polymer phase, described through the extended Flory-Huggins theory, and a liquid phase, which does not contain the polymer, has been developed. This has then been coupled with a kinetic model describing the catalytic reaction inside the resin particles. The model has been validated through an appropriate experimental analysis involving both equilibrium partitioning and reactive experiments, for the case of a highly cross-linked sulfonated resin in the presence of various mixtures of the components involved in the esterification of ethanol with acetic acid. The results indicate the ability of the resin not only to catalyze the esterification reaction but also to, shift the corresponding equilibrium conversion, due to its swelling capability. This approach is believed to apply to a wide class of reactions catalyzed by polymeric resins, and it is suitable for the optimal design of the corresponding processes.