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Kinetics of the Syntheses of Mesityl Oxide (MO) and Methyl Isobutyl Ketone (MIBK) in a Fixed-Bed Flow Reactor (FBR)

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Abstract

Nb2O5/SiO2 and Pd/Nb2O5/SiO2 catalysts were studied for the liquid phase syntheses of mesityl oxide (MO) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) in a fixed bed flow reactor (FBR). Catalyst activities as high as 1.7 g/h gcat and selectivities ranging from 93.4 to 100% for MO synthesis were observed. The catalyst activity was found to be a strong function of space velocity likely due to product inhibition. A synergistic effect was observed whereby the catalyst activity for all organic products increased by 22% and the MIBK productivity increased by 20% at 160 °C and WHSV = 8.6 h−1 from the introduction of hydrogen to the reactor. However, the MIBK selectivity was constrained to less than 83.5% due to competing reactions.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from NSERC Discovery Grant program is gratefully acknowledged. Funding provided to W.K. O’Keefe from the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities in the form of an Ontario Graduate Scholarship is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    William K. O’Keefe, Flora T. T. Ng & Garry L. Rempel

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  1. William K. O’Keefe
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  2. Flora T. T. Ng
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  3. Garry L. Rempel
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Correspondence to Flora T. T. Ng.

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O’Keefe, W.K., Ng, F.T.T. & Rempel, G.L. Kinetics of the Syntheses of Mesityl Oxide (MO) and Methyl Isobutyl Ketone (MIBK) in a Fixed-Bed Flow Reactor (FBR). Top Catal 53, 1104–1109 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-010-9541-5

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