Esterification of Short-Chain Alcohols with Acetic Acid

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Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis
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Date

2025-05-09

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Major/Subject

Chemical Engineering

Mcode

CHEM3054

Degree programme

Aalto Bachelor's Programme in Science and Technology

Language

en

Pages

32+7

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Abstract

Esterification reactions are central to the formation of various products and materials. From flavours and fragrances to polymer softening agents and gasoline additives, esters are numerous and play an important role in modern industry. Projected to grow by 70 billion US dollars over the next decade, the role of esters will only become more prominent requiring greater levels of production. Esters are typically formed through a condensation reaction of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid. Due to the reversibility of this reaction, it is of great importance to study equilibrium shifting methods to improve product yield and efficiency. Various methods to shift the equilibrium exist, including the optimisation of the reaction temperature, variation of the molar ratio of reactants, and continuous removal of reaction products. Additionally, esterification is typically slow, thus, the usage of a catalyst is desirable to increase the rate of reaction. This bachelor’s thesis contains a review on literature from the past 30 years and aims to establish the major equilibrium and kinetic trends of short-chain acid-catalysed esterification reactions. The primary focus of this work is on the heterogenous catalytic esterification of acetic acid with the short-chain alcohols of methanol to hexanol, although homogeneous catalysts and other reactants are covered where applicable. Furthermore, the role of chemical process technologies such as reactive distillation and pervaporation in ester production are discussed. The common activity coefficient methods and kinetic models found in the studied literature are also presented. This thesis concludes with Aspen Plus software simulations on the six basic esterification equilibria from methanol to hexanol. Here, the effects of reaction temperature on alcohol equilibrium conversion, equilibrium constant, and reactor duty are highlighted and compared to literature.

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Supervisor

Hummel, Michael

Thesis advisor

Pokki, Juha-Pekka

Keywords

esterification, alcohol, acetic acid, ester, equilibrium, kinetics

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202506245205

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[kand] Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu / CHEM