Kinetics Study of Sulfuric Acid Alkylation of Isobutane and Butene Using a Microstructured Chemical System

The kinetics of sulfuric acid alkylation of isobutane and 2-butene was first determined using a microstructured chemical system, which shows obvious advantages for fast reactions. The concentration of key components, including trimethylpentane (TMP), dimethylhexane (DMH), light end (LE), and heavy end (HE), were obtained at different reaction temperatures. A kinetics model, containing kinetics parameters of both main and side reactions, was established to predict the alkylation process in the microstructured chemical system. The model fitted with the experimental data very well and was further confirmed by the simulation results calculated with COMSOL software. Compared with the kinetics parameters determined in a traditional batch reactor, the model developed in this work is much more reliable to describe the reaction, because a much shorter reaction time, faster mass transfer rate, and precise control of the reaction time have been reached.