Reversible Autocatalytic Hydrolysis of Alkyl Formate: Kinetic and Reactor Modeling

The kinetics and thermodynamics of alkyl formate hydrolysis in liquid phase were studied in a laboratory-scale autoclave at temperatures between 333 and 383 K using different molar ratios of the reactants. The process was found to exhibit an autocatalytic effect due to the acid formed. More so, the rate of neutral hydrolysis of ethyl formate is faster compared to methyl formate in the uncatalyzed reaction. However, the autocatalytic effect is more pronounced in methyl formate hydrolysis. In addition, the effect of adding a small amount of formic acid as an initial charge upon the equilibrium conversion and kinetics was investigated, and it was found that the addition improved the reaction rate by reducing the induction period but it suppressed slightly the equilibrium conversion. A kinetic model was proposed to explain these experimental trends, and the model agreed well with the experimental results.