Abstract.docx
Abstract
This experiment utilizes an acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of ethyl acetate to determine the rate kinetics of the reaction, and the reaction mechanisms of the catalytic system. An anion ion-exchange resin was used as the catalyst, where ethyl acetate was hydrolyzed to form products of ethanol and acetic acid. Flow rates of ethyl acetate were varied to be 20, 50, 80, 110 and 140 mL/min while the temperature was varied to be 30, 40, 50 and 60C to determine the effect of each on the reaction kinetics. Generally, as the temperatures and flowrates increased, the rate constant was found to increase as well. By plotting the rate constant against the varying flow rates, the plot yielded a positive linear trend line. By plotting conversion of product against flowrates, it was determined that the conversion was higher at lower flowrates due to greater residence times. By plotting the rate constant against varying temperatures, the plot yielded a positive polynomial relationship. This showed that the rate-limiting step was not external diffusion, and the Arrhenius equation was employed to determine if the rate-limiting step was either internal diffusion or surface reaction. The activation energy was found to be 27.07 kJ/mol, which determined that the rate-limiting step for this reaction was surface diffusion.
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