A thermostated glas reactor is used to determine the microkinetics of homogeneously or heterogeneously catalyzed reactions. The reactor is equipped with stirrer, baffle and reflux condenser to ensure good mixing and prevent loss of volatile compounds. The reactor is designed to be used at atmospheric pressure and temperatures up to 95°C. Figure 1 shows a schematic drawing of the reactor.

Fig. 1: Batch Reactor for Kinetic Investigations

So far, esterification reactions have been investigated. The concentration of the acid is measured either by potentiometric titration (Kyoto Electronics A-200 automatic titrator) or gas chromatography. Typical results are shown in Fig 2 for the esterification of acetic acid with methanol (catalyst: Amberlyst 15). Rate constants of kinetic expressions are derived from the data by integrating the rate expression with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and fitting the calculated curve to the experimental data by a Simplex-Nelder-Mead algorithm.

Fig. 2: Typical Results: Esterification Reaction of Acetic Acid with Methanol