Complete kinetic model for esterification reaction of lauric acid with glycerol to synthesize glycerol monolaurate

Abstract

Glycerol monolaurate (GML) is a widely used industrial chemical with excellent emulsification and antibacterial effect. The direct esterification of glycerol with lauric acid is the main method to synthesize GML. In this work, the kinetic process of direct esterification was systematically studied using p-toluenesulfonic acid as catalyst. A complete kinetic model of consecutive esterification reaction has been established, and the kinetic equation of acid catalysis was deduced. The isomerization reactions of GML and Glycerol dilaurate were investigated. It was found that the reaction was an equilibrium reaction and the reaction rate was faster than the esterification reaction. The kinetic equations of the consecutive esterification reaction were obtained by experiments as k1=(276+92261Xcat)exp(−37720/RT) and k2=(80+4413Xcat)exp(−32240/RT). The kinetic results are beneficial to the optimization of operating conditions and reactor design in GML production process.