Synthesis of 1,1-dimethoxyethane in a fixed bed adsorptive reactor

The synthesis of dimethoxyethane using acetaldehyde and methanol as raw-material on a fixed bed adsorptive reactor packed with Amberlyst-15 resin was studied. Dynamic binary adsorption experiments were carried out in the absence of reaction at 293 K in a laboratory scale column. The parameters of the Langmuir type multicomponent adsorption isotherms were determined, by minimizing the difference between the experimental and calculated stoic hiometric times of breakthrough curves. The mathematical model used to describe the adsorptive reactor dynamic behavior includes axial dispersion, mass transfer resistances, reaction kinetics, and multicomponent Langmuir adsorption isotherms. The mass transport phenomena through the external film and micropores were not taken into account explicitly; however, they were lumped in the global mass transfer coefficient. The model predicts the experimental results obtained for the reaction and regeneration experiments well, in terms of the outlet molar concentration of the species history.