Synthesis of perbutyric acid with amberlyst catalyst in a continuous microreactor

Abstract

Perbutyric acid is an important organic compound, which is effective against bacterial spores, viruses, and other microbes as a disinfectant and used in chemical processing and bleaching. Perbutyric acid is having large applications in oil and chemical industries because of its -goodoxidizing properties. The present article reports about the continuous production of Perbutyric acid in a Teflon spiral capillary microreactor. Butyric acid and hydrogen peroxide are used as reactants in the presence and absence of heterogeneous catalyst amberlyst15 hydrogen. Microreactors provide large surface area and safely handle unstable or dangerous materials. In microreactors, heat and mass transfer rates are higher and rapid mixing occurs because of their unique transport capabilities. So the present investigation focuses on understanding the effect of different parameters like temperature, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and catalyst on the formation of Perbutyric acid. The results revealed the optimum conditions for 56.2% conversion of butyric acid at 90 °C temperature with 30 w/v% of hydrogen peroxide, 6 wt% of concentration of catalyst and 8 min of residence time. It was observed that the reaction rate increased with increase in hydrogen peroxide concentration. Further it could be concluded that the solid catalyst provides higher activity, which leads to the highest formation of Perbutyric acid in short residence times.