Reaction kinetics of the esterification of myristic acid with isopropanol and n-propanol using p-toluene sulphonic acid as catalyst Original Research Article

The reaction kinetics of the esterification of myristic acid with isopropanol with n-propanol were determined, using p-toluene sulphonic acid (pTSA) as catalyst, for a temperature range of 343–403 K. The reactions follow first order kinetics in all components. The kinetic model corresponds with the results for the esterification of myristic acid with isopropanol reported in literature for 333–353 K. As expected, the reaction rate increases with increasing amount of catalyst and with increasing temperature. The reaction rate and equilibrium conversion increases with an increasing alcohol to myristic acid feed ratio. The reaction with n-propanol is considerably faster (at 373 K about 3.8 times) than the reaction with isopropanol.