Kinetic Study of the Hydration of Propylene Oxide in the Presence of Heterogeneous Catalyst

Abstract

The kinetics of the hydration of propylene oxide was studied using a pres-surized batch reactor for both uncatalyzed and heterogeneously catalyzed reactions. Lewatit MonoPlus M500/HCO3- was used as heterogeneous cat-alyst, which showed better performance than Dowex Marathon A/HCO3-. The effects of the parameters, namely internal and external diffusion resistances, temperature, catalyst loading and mole ratios of reactants, on the reaction rate were studied. The uncatalyzed and heterogeneously catalyzed reactions were proven to follow a series-parallel irreversible homogeneous mechanism. The temperature dependencies of the rate constants appearing in the rate expres-sions were determined.