The influence of temperature on the decomposition kinetics of peracetic acid in solutions

Peracetic acid is a powerful sanitizer that has only recently been introduc ed in the Brazilian food industry. The main disadvantage of this sanitizer is its decomposition rate. The main purpose of this paper is to present res ults obtained in experiments carried out to study the decomposition kinetic s of peracetic acid in aqueous solutions at 25, 35, 40 and 45 degreesC. The decompositon of peracetic acid is a first-order reaction. The decompositio n rate constants are between 1.71x10(-3) h(-1) for 25 degreesC and 9.64x10( -3) h(-1) for 45 degreesC. The decomposition rate constant is affected by t emperature according to the Arrhenius equation, and the activation energy f or the decomposition of peracetic acid in aqueous solutions prepared from t he commercial formulation used in this work is 66.20 kJ/mol.