Model to Predict Dimethyl Carbonate Synthesis Through Transesterification of Ethylene Carbonate with Methanol in Fixed-bed Reactor

Dimethyl carbonate synthesis through the transesterification reaction of ethylene carbonate (EC) with methanol was studied over a heterogeneous K/MgO catalyst. The experiments were conducted in a fixed-bed reactor at temperatures from 100 to 140 ℃ and feed molar ratios (methanol to ethylene carbonate) from 4 to 8 with varous feed flow rates from 2.5 to 25mL/h, i.e., equal to LHSV from 0.1 to 10 h-1. The EC conversion increased upon increasing the reaction temperature and the feed molar rations, but it decreased upon increasing the feed flow rate. A model to predict the process was developed and correlated with the experimental data. This formulated model was in good agreement with the experimental values. KCI Citation Count: 8