Synthesis of n‐octyl acetate over fly ash cenosphere supported 10‐tungsto‐2‐vanadophosphoric acid (H5PW10V2O40) as a heterogeneous catalyst: Kinetic study

A 10‐tungsto‐2‐vanadophosphoric acid (H5PW10V2O40) catalyst was prepared, supported on pre‐treated fly ash cenosphere (FAC) by the wet impregnation method, and characterized by analytical methods like Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), x‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The prepared catalyst H5PW10V2O40/FAC was used to synthesize n‐octyl acetate in the batch reactor. The influence of various reaction parameters on conversion was investigated and optimized. The maximum conversion of 81.43% was obtained at optimal conditions, that is, temperature 383 K, catalyst loading 5% (w), molar ratio 1:2 (acetic acid to n‐octyl alcohol), speed of agitation 400 rpm, and molecular sieves 6% (w). The H5PW10V2O40/FAC catalyst recyclability shows that it can be used up to four reaction cycles. The reaction progress was represented by the pseudo second‐order homogeneous (PH) model, and the energy of activation of the reaction was computed as 28.89 kJ/mol. The heterogeneous kinetic models, such as Langmuir Hinshelwood Hougen Watson (LHHW) and Eley–Rideal (ER), were also used to test kinetic data. It was seen that the LHHW model with reactant and product gave the best fit for the experimental data.