N. Oktar et al., Etherification rates of 2-methyl-2-butene and 2-methyl-1-butene with ethanol for environmentally clean gasoline production, J CHEM TECH, 74(2), 1999, pp. 155-161
Etherification of C-5 reactive olefins available in light fluidized catalyt
ic cracking (FCC) gasoline is an attractive way to decrease the olefins and
to increase the octane number. The reactivities of 2-methyl-1-butene (2M1B
) and 2-methyl-2-butene (2M2B) in the etherification reaction with ethanol
catalysed by a strongly acidic macroreticular resin catalyst were investiga
ted in a temperature range of 333-360 K using a liquid phase differential f
low reactor. In the presence of excess alcohol, the apparent reaction order
s of etherification reactions of isoamylenes were found to be 0.93 and 0.69
with respect to 2M1B and 2M2B concentrations, respectively. 2M1B was shown
to be more reactive than 2M2B and its activation energy is also lower in t
he etherification reaction. It was also shown that diffusion resistances, e
specially in the macropores of the catalyst, may play an important role on
the observed rates. (C) 1999 Society of Chemical Industry.