Ion exchange resin catalyzed synthesis of methyl butyrate: batch reactor and packed bed reactor studies

ABSTRACT

Manufacture of methyl butyrate is presented in this work at different reaction conditions using ion exchange resins as catalyst. With T − 63 as the catalyst, about 38% conversion was obtained at 333 K, mole ratio of 1:1 and 900 rpm. Water was seen to inhibit the reaction, and hence packed bed reactor was used to improve the conversion. Conversion increased to about 60%, thus showing that there is possibility of process intensification.

KEYWORDS:

• Esterification
• butyric acid
• methyl butyrate
• T−63 catalyst

Nomenclature

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Abbreviations

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).