Kinetics of t-butyl alcohol were measured with a batch reactor containing liquid reactant and suspended particles of macroreticular cation exchange resin catalysts, Amberlyst XN-1010 and Amberlyst 15.
The dehydration reaction was found to be controlled by chemical reaction only for Amberlyst 15, and by chemical reaction and diffusion competitively for Amberlyst XN-1010. The data were found to agree with a simple Langmuir-Hinshel-wood model in which the competitive chemisorption of alcohol and water was postulated.
The apparent activation energy was calculated from the rate equation of Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The results were 20.4 Kcal/mole for Amberlyst XN-1010 and 25.4% Kcal/mole for Amberlyst 15. The intrinsic activation energy was 24 Kcal/mole.