Esterification of butyric acid with n-butanol: Kinetic study using experimental data and modeling

Present study involves the investigation of the esterification kinetics between butyric acid and n-butanol. This reaction was conducted in a batch reactor, utilizing homogeneous methanesulfonic acid (MSA) catalyst. Response surface methodology (RSM) was conducted prior to the kinetic study using “Design Expert; version-11.0” for finding the causal factors influencing the conversion of butyric acid. Most important factors identified with their limits against conversions (during optimization of the process using RSM) were taken up to critically analyze the effect of them on butyric acid conversion. Concentration and activity-based model of the process were proposed assuming second order reversible reaction scheme using homogeneous MSA catalyst. During the study of non-ideal behavior of the system, UNIFAC model was adapted for assessing the activity coefficients of species present in equilibrated liquid phase. Experimental data were used to evaluate kinetic and thermodynamic parameters such as rate constants, activation energy, enthalpy, and entropy of the system. The endothermic nature of esterification was confirmed by positive value of enthalpy obtained. The effect of various levels of causal variables like temperature (60–90°C), catalyst concentration (0.5–1.5 wt.%), and molar ratio of n-butanol to butyric acid (1–3) on conversion kinetics of butyric acid was investigated during transient and equilibrium phase of the reaction. It has been observed that molar ratio of butanol to butyric acid has the highest influence on the conversion. The rate equation derived offered a kinetic and thermodynamic framework to the generated data. It also exhibits a notable degree of conformity of predicted data to the experimental ones and effectively characterizes the system across different reaction temperatures, reactant molar ratio, and catalyst concentration.