FRAMEWORK FOR CORRELATING COMPOSITION DEPENDENT EQUILIBRIUM CONVERSION IN METHYL TERT-BUTYL ETHER FORMATION BY ION-EXCHANGE CATALYSTS

Catalyst performance for the reaction of methanol and isobutylene (IB) to form methyl tert-butyl ether can be assessed based on maximum conv ersion. The equilibrium conversion attainable for this reaction is of practical interest since separation of products from reactants downstr eam of the reactor can be simplified as the extent of conversion incre ases. A framework is presented by which different catalysts can be com pared on an internally consistent basis for different temperatures, is obutylene concentrations, and/or methanol/isobutylene mole ratios. An equilibrium expression which accounts for the presence of nonreacting components is presented to correlate the effect of methanol/IB ratios and IB concentrations with observed conversions for different catalyst s. Assumptions inherent in this method are discussed and data for seve ral types of ion-exchange catalysts illustrate use of this framework.