C. Gomez et al., EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF THE SIMULTANEOUS SYNTHESIS OF METHYL TERT-BUTYLETHER AND ETHYL TERT-BUTYL ETHER IN LIQUID-PHASE, Industrial & engineering chemistry research, 36(11), 1997, pp. 4756-4762
Equilibria constants for the simultaneous liquid-phase syntheses of me
thyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) were de
termined experimentally in the temperature range 313-353 K at 1.6 MPa.
To achieve etherification equilibria, the macroporous sulfonic add re
sin Bayer K=2631 was used as the catalyst. MTBE reached the equilibriu
m faster than ETBE. The progress of the reactions toward the respectiv
e equilibrium was determined using different particle sizes ranging fr
om 0.1 to 1 mm at 50 degrees C. Catalyst effectiveness factors greater
than unity were observed for the particle sizes of 0.4-0.63 mm.