Experimental study and model of reaction kinetics of heterogeneously catalyzed methylal synthesis

Reaction kinetics of the heterogeneously catalyzed formation of methylal from aqueous methanolic formaldehyde solutions are studied in a plug flow reactor at 323, 333 and 343 K using the acidic ion exchange resin Amberlyst 15 (Rohm and Haas) as catalyst. Parameters of an activity-based pseudo-homogeneous reaction kinetic model are fitted to the experimental results. The model is based on the true speciation in the reacting solution and explicitly includes the oligomerization reactions of formaldehyde in aqueous methanolic solutions. The reaction kinetic model describes the experimental data well and is suited for process simulations in which both chemical reactions and phase equilibria have to be described simultaneously.