Runaway Reaction for the Esterification of Acetic Anhydride with Methanol Catalyzed by Sulfuric Acid

This work is devoted to the prevention of runaway reactions for the esterification of acetic anhydride with methanol in the presence of sulfuric acid. To this aim, a kinetic model has been developed and validated through the comparison with experimental data obtained by means of a batch reaction calorimeter operating in isoperibolic conditions. The model, which shows a good agreement with experimental data, then has been adopted for the prediction of the thermal runaway, which may lead to thermal explosion, through the definition of runaway criteria in a batch reactor and through the definition of stability diagram for the reactive system.