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CHEM‐AXXX Kurssin nimi
CHEM‐E7115 Experimental Assignments in Chemical Engineering
Determination of activation energy for a reaction
1. Before you come to the lab
Before you come to do the labwork, you have to do the following:
‐ Read the material safety data sheets (MSDS) of the components which are
used in the work (available in MyCourses workspace)
‐ Read the instructions of the work
‐ Take the lab coat and safety goggles with you when you come to work in the
lab
The meeting point for the lab is the lobby of Industrial Chemistry and Polymer
technology, 4th floor, corridor E. The work is done in lab D429.
2. Introduction
In this work, activation energy of the formation reaction of ethyl acetate from acetic
acid and ethanol is studied. Ethyl acetate is produced on a large scale for use as a
solvent. The reaction scheme is presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Reaction scheme for the formation of ethyl acetate (RCOOR’) from acetic
acid (RCOOH) and ethanol (R’OH).
3. Theory
The reaction rate (‐rA) is a function of the composition of the reaction mixture and the
reaction rate coefficient (k). The composition can be expressed as a function of e.g.
concentration (ci) or partial pressures (pi) of the components. It is generally stated as
rA k(T ) f (ci ) (1)
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The function of the composition, f(ci), is depending on the reaction mechanism. The
reaction rate constant k increases as a function of temperature and the temperature
dependence can be expressed with Arrhenius equation:
Ea
k (T ) A e RT
(2)
where A is an empirical pre‐exponential factor, Ea is activation energy for the reaction
(J mol‐1), R is the universal gas constant (J mol‐1 K‐1) and T is the temperature in Kelvins.
Arrhenius equation can be linearized and the activation energy can be solved
graphically by plotting ln(k) as a function of 1/T according to
Ea 1
ln k (T ) ln( A) (3)
R T
4. Working in the lab
The activation energy of ethyl acetate formation reaction is studied in a 80 ml batch
reactor. The system is catalysed with Amberlyst 15 ion exchange resin. The system is
heated in a water bath.
Each groups studies the reaction at four temperatures and determines the reaction
rate constant for each temperature. The instructor of the work gives the temperature
interval to be studied. Two reactors are operated simultaneously, thus the work in lab
takes either one full day or two half days.
You have to keep a lab diary all the time in the lab. Write down all the results and
procedures you have done. The instructor checks the lab diary when you leave the lab
to make sure that you have enough information for writing the report.
4.1 Operating the reactor
Packing the reactor
Start the work by turning on the water bath and set the reaction temperature in the
control panel by pressing buttons with arrows. Make sure that there is enough water
in the bath. If you have to add water, use distilled water, not tap water! Do not place
the reactor into the water bath until it is heated to the desired temperature.
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Learn to use the reactor. There is a test reactor available to practise the use of reactor.
The test reactor is filled with water and pressurised with air. A detailed instructions
how to use the reactor are available in the lab next to the reactor.
Pack the reactor. Put a magnetic stirring rod into the reactor. Attach the catalyst
basket into the mixing baffle so that the basket is hanging on top of the mixing baffle.
Make sure that the baffle is not touching the bottom of the reactor and the stirrer can
move freely.
Weigh the reactant bottle before and after filling the reactor to find out the amount
of liquid in the reactor. To minimize the evaporation of the reaction mixture keep the
bottle in the ice box before opening it. Fill the reactor so that appr. 1.0‐1.5 cm of void
space is left in the top of the reactor. Close the reactor quickly to avoid the
evaporation of the reactants. Tighten the screws evenly first with your fingers
(clockwise to close, counterclockwise to open) and then check the tightness with
hexagon wrench. Do not use too much force in tightening to avoid damaging the seals
in the reactor!
Put the reactor into the water bath and turn on the timer to measure the reaction
time. Turn on the stirrer (under the water bath) and set the stirring speed to 1000
rpm. The stirring should not make any clicking sound – in that case move the reactor
a bit to get rid of the sound. The reactor should be placed inside the circle which is
drawn in the bottom of the water bath. Put the sampling line in the ice box.
Pressurise the reactor to 10 bar pressure. Make sure that the nitrogen bottle and
valves in the pressure line are open. Turn the valves slowly to pressurise the system.
Detailed instructions on using the valves are available next to the reactor.
Sampling
The zero sample is taken from the reactant bottle with a pasteur pipette. All the other
samples are taken from the reactor via the sampling line. Mark the sample bottles
carefully! Detailed instructions on the sampling are available next to the reactor.
Unpacking the reactor
After the reaction time is complete, turn off the water bath and stirring. Move the hot
reactor carefully to the ice box and let it cool down for about 10 minutes. After it is
cool, remove it from the ice box and dry it with the paper towels. Release the pressure
via the sampling line and collect the reaction mixture to a beaker. Open the screws of
the reactor, remove the mixing baffle, catalyst and stirring rod and leave them to dry
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in the fume hood. Make sure that the sampling line is empty, too. Put the used
reaction mixture to the waste bottle and clean the table and surroundings of the
reactor.
5. Calculation and reporting of the results
The analysis results from chromatographic analysis will be available in MyCourses
workspace named according to the group members. The calculation of the results
from the analysis data is presented in the “Instructions for the gas chromatography
analysis and for the calculation of the results” and it is available in MyCourses.
1. Calculate the composition of each sample from the chromatographic data
2. Calculate the reaction rate at each sampling time. You can assume that
volume of the samples is small compared to the volume of the reaction
mixture is the system, i.e. the liquid volume remains constant (V = 75 ml) in
the reactor although samples are withdrawn from the system.
Note that you need molar composition for the calculation but you get the
composition in mass basis when using the given response factors
3. Calculate conversion of the reactive components in each sample and plot the
conversions as a function of reaction time
4. Calculate the reaction rate coefficient for each experiment. Assume that the
kinetics of the reaction applies the kinetics of an elementary reaction. Useful
reference for this calculation is the chapter 5.2 in the book “Elements of
Chemical Reaction Engineering” by H. S. Fogler [1].
5. Calculate the activation energy by using the Arrhenius equation.
6. Search for a literature value for the activation energy and compare your result
with the value. Comment your results. You can search the literature e.g. from
Scopus (www.scopus.com) or ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com) which
are available in campus area and in Aalto networks.
7. Determine the amount of water in reactor for all sampling times. Present how
the amounts of water were calculated.
8. Evaluate your results using mass balances for all sampling times. Present the
calculations in your report.
Each group member makes an own report which has to be returned in MyCourses
return box called “Activation energy” within two weeks from the completion of the
lab work.
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6. Feedback on the work
Include some feedback on the work in the report. This gives valuable information how
to develop this work in the future. Give also an estimate how many hours of work you
used for this work.
7. References
1. H. S. Fogler, Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, 4th edn, Pearson,
Westford, 2005.