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Decomposition of sec‐butyl acetate on charcoal
Author(s) -
Pettit P. J.,
Anderson R. B.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450480218
Subject(s) - chemistry , adsorption , thermal decomposition , activation energy , decomposition , acetic acid , activated charcoal , charcoal , butene , reaction rate constant , atmospheric temperature range , analytical chemistry (journal) , ethylene , chromatography , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , catalysis , kinetics , physics , quantum mechanics
The decomposition of sec‐butyl acetate on de‐ashed 20‐to 30‐mesh coconut‐shell charcoal (1500 m 2 /g) was studied in a fixed bed reactor in the temperature range 300–375°C, and at partial pressures of 1 atm. and 0.29 atm. The ester decomposed principally to n‐butene and acetic acid, and only small amounts of other products were found. The ratio of 1‐butene to 2‐butene was about 1:1, very close to that observed for thermal decomposition of the ester but far removed from the equilibrium butene ratio. The butene selectivity was independent of conversion. The rate of reaction followed the rate equation r = kA P E /1 + AP E This expression corresponds to surface reaction on one site being rate controlling. The activation energy of rate constant k was 32.7 kcal/mole, compared to 46.6 kcal/mole for the gas‐phase reaction. The temperature dependence of adsorption constant A showed a heat adsorption of 12 kcal/mole. Gas chromatographic measurements confirmed this value and also showed that ester is the principal adsor‐bate on the charcoal.