Kinetics of liquid phase synthesis of tert-amyl methyl ether from tert-amyl alcohol and methanol catalyzed by ion exchange resin

Synthesis of tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME) from methanol (MeOH) and tert-amyl alcohol (TAA) in the liquid phase was studied by using an ion exchange resin, Amberlyst15 (A15) in the H+ form. Experiments were carried out in a stirred batch reactor under atmospheric pressure. The effects of catalyst size, agitation speed, temperatures, feed ratio and water on the reaction rate were investigated. Both of intraparticle and external diffusion effects could be neglected in this System. The dehydration of TAA could be decreased by increasing the ratio of MeOH/TAA and the reaction rates were greatly inhibited by water. A kinetic model which considered the inhibition of water was proposed. The experimental results agreed well with the model. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.