THE INFLUENCE OF THE CATALYST ON THE RATE CONSTANT OF THE CHEMICAL REACTION OF ESTERIFICATION OF OLEIC ACID WITH METHANOL

Abstract

Catalysis and catalysts play an important role in modern technology. Catalysis means a change in the rate of a chemical reaction under the influence of a substance that does not change chemically as a result of the reaction. This substance is called a catalyst. The catalyzed reaction proceeds on a different reaction path than the uncatalyzed reaction, thanks to the participation of the catalyst. The reactants are absorbed on the surface of the catalyst, and then a mutual reaction of the adsorbed species occurs. The reaction produc- es a product that is desorbed from the surface, while the catalyst remains unchanged and ready for a new reaction cycle. An important piece of information for evaluating the quality of a catalyst is the rate of the reaction in which it participates. The subject of kinetic research is the study of the influence of process pa- rameters on the reaction rate. It is safe to say that the study of reaction kinetics is a central part of chemical reaction engineering. Therefore, the study of the kinetics of real heterogeneous catalysts is of particular im- portance, both for the improvement of existing catalysts and for the development of new ones. These tests involve determining the influence of process parameters such as the type of catalyst present, temperature, pressure, and concentration of reactants and products on the reaction rate. In this work, the influence of the mass of the catalyst at a certain temperature on the rate constant of the chemical reaction of esterification of oleic acid with methanol was studied. The catalyst used was mesoporous silica, an amorphous solid that can be obtained by drying hydrogels. It was found that as the mass of the catalyst increases, the rate of the chemical reaction constant also increases, i.e. the rate of the esterification reaction increases.