Kinetics and thermodynamics of esterification by a cation-exchange
resin in an intensified fixed-bed reactor was studied systematically.
The resin type, catalyst loading, volume flow rate, initial molar
ratio, temperature, and catalyst reusability were studied and optimized.
The nonideality of the reaction system was corrected by the UNIFAC
group contribution method. The Δ
r
H
0
, Δ
r
S
0
,
and Δ
r
G
0
of the reaction
were acquired by two methods. The pseudo-homogeneous (PH) model and
the Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson (LHHW)
model were adopted to simulate the kinetic process. The result indicated
that the LHHW model was better suited to simulate the kinetic process
than the PH model.