Esterification of acetic acid with methanol over a cation exchange resin

The esterification kinetics of acetic acid with methanol in the presence of Resin Tech SACMP-H ion exchange resin as a heterogeneous catalyst were studied at temperatures of 303, 313 and 323 K. The effects of various parameters such as temperature, catalyst loading, stirrer speed and also the effect of the mole ratio of reactants, and the reaction mechanism, have been investigated in detail. The uncatalysed reaction was shown to be second-order reversible process. For heterogeneously catalysed reaction, three different kinetic models were applied to the experimental data, the best fit being the Eley - Rideal mechanism. It was found that ResinTech SACMP-H catalyst acts by reducing the activation energy from 58 to 48.2 kJ mol(-1).