Study on esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol aided by pervaporation

Coupling of pervaporation with esterification was studied. The reaction kinetic equations were developed on the esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol catalyzed by Zr (SO4)2&middot4H2O. Crosslinked poly vinyl alcohol membrane was tested by pervaporation of water-acetic acid and water-acetic acid-n-butanol-butyl acetate. The expressions of water and acetic acid permeate flux as a function of compositions of water, acetic acid, n-butanol and butyl acetate were developed according to the experiment results. The above esterification was taken as a model reaction to study the coupling of pervaporation with esterification. Experiments were conducted on the effect of different temperatures, the molar ratios of initial reactant, the ratios of membrane area to volume of reaction mixture and catalyst concentrations, on the coupling process.