The kinetics of sulfuric acid alkylation
of isobutane and 2-butene
was first determined using a microstructured chemical system, which
shows obvious advantages for fast reactions. The concentration of
key components, including trimethylpentane (TMP), dimethylhexane (DMH),
light end (LE), and heavy end (HE), were obtained at different reaction
temperatures. A kinetics model, containing kinetics parameters of
both main and side reactions, was established to predict the alkylation
process in the microstructured chemical system. The model fitted with
the experimental data very well and was further confirmed by the simulation
results calculated with COMSOL software. Compared with the kinetics
parameters determined in a traditional batch reactor, the model developed
in this work is much more reliable to describe the reaction, because
a much shorter reaction time, faster mass transfer rate, and precise
control of the reaction time have been reached.