Faster plasticizers production by microwave irradiation

[EN] In this work the microwave effect of enhancing chemical reactions was applied to maleic anhydride esterification with 2-ethylhexanol-1 catalyzed by p-toluene sulfonic acid. The analysis of this reaction was simplified considering the industrial practice of withdrawn the reaction water, which makes the whole reaction act as a pseudo irreversible one. A statistical design of experiments was applied to determine an empirical chemical kinetics equation with three levels of catalyst concentration and two levels related to the kind of heating (microwave and conventional); six chemical kinetics equations (three for microwave heating and three for conventional heating) were determined. A batch/plug flow simulation was done and a spreadsheet developed for the reactor’s behavior. The most interesting result was the confirmation of a synergic effect between microwaves and acid catalysis that accelerated this esterification reaction, transforming it in a fast reaction.