Kinetics of catalytic ozonation of methyl tert-butyl ether in the presence of perfluorooctyl alumina

Abstract

In this work, the kinetics of heterogeneous ozonation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in the presence of perfluorooctyl alumina (PFOAL) catalysts is presented. Activity of the PFOAL catalysts in ozonation reactions of MTBE was studied in a batch reactor over the temperature range of 25 to 40°C. The results show that PFOAL is an effective catalyst for enhancing the molecular mechanism of ozone reactions. For a catalyst concentration of 5 g/L, the contribution of the rate of heterogeneous catalytic reaction in the total reaction rate is about 50%, 75%, and 85% at the reaction temperatures of 25°C, 30°C, and 40°C, respectively. Kinetic studies showed that the chemical reaction of ozone and MTBE is the controlling step in this catalytic system. The quasi-homogeneous kinetic model proved to be an appropriate approach in modeling the heterogeneous reaction of ozone with MTBE on PFOAL catalysts. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.