A deactivation
model for the dehydration of 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO)
to 1,3-butadiene (1,3-BD) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) on an amorphous
calcium phosphate (a-CP) catalyst is herein proposed. The deactivation
of a-CP catalyst can be explained by the following steps: (i) 1,3-BD
selectivity is increased sharply as the temperature increases; (ii)
the high 1,3-BD selectivity and temperature raise a possibility of
the polymerization of 1,3-BD; and (iii) heavy compounds made by polymerization
cover the active surface of the catalyst and block the pores of the
catalyst. Deactivation data for around 86 h obtained from a laboratory-scale
fixed-bed reactor operated under isothermal conditions were found
to be modeled well using the simplified concentration-independent
generalized power law expression of the form dα/dt = −K
d(α – αeq)
m
. The values of deactivation
order m, the limiting activity at infinite time αeq, and the activation energy for deactivation E
d are found to be 1.32, 0.33, and 1.00 × 1006 J/mol, respectively. Also, it was confirmed that the activity of
a-CP catalyst is constant after the regeneration through the same
experiment conducted with the regenerated a-CP catalyst.