Effect of ion exchange resin catalyst on hydrolysis of ethyl acetate

Abstract

Hydrolysis reaction of ethyl acetate is a reversible reaction with high activation energy. The reaction has a very slow reaction rate when carried out in the absence of a catalyst. Therefore, catalysts need to be used in industrial applications in order to increase the reaction rate. Traditionally homogenous catalysts are used in industry such as hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid. The main problem related to homogeneous catalysis is the difficulty of separating the yield from reactants and catalyst mixture. This problem can be overcome by using heterogeneous catalysts. The main objective of this research is to study the polymeric resin Lewatit S1467, normally used for water treatment as an alternative heterogeneous catalyst for hydrolysis reaction of ethyl acetate. The resin had to be washed using sulphuric acid to give an H+ charge on the catalyst. Experiments were carried out at a constant temperature to determine the suitable catalyst loading of dry resin. This research also focused on the ability of reusing the resin. The results show that increase in the solid resin catalyst loading increases the percentage of conversion. A maximum conversion of 52% was observed when 7.5 g of catalyst was used with 110ml of the reaction mixture. The catalyst reusability study with 7.5g of catalyst, showed a decrease in the conversion when the catalyst was reused