| Abstract: | The kinetics of the reaction of terephthalic acid with ethylene oxide, in n-butanol solvent, catalysed by triethyl amine, were investigated in a semi-batch reactor under atmospheric conditions. It was found that the reaction occurred in the liquid phase and that mass transfer effects were absent. The reaction was found to be pseudo-zero order in terephthalic acid and first order in ethylene oxide and in catalyst concentration. The effects of reaction temperature, catalyst concentration, particle size of terephthalic acid, ethylene oxide flow rate, stirrer speed and terephthalic acid to ethylene oxide ratio were studied. Particle size of terephthalic acid, stirrer speed and flow rate of ethylene oxide did not affect the reaction rate. The Arrhenius activation energy of the reaction was found to be between 19.2 and 23.5 kcal/mol. |
