본 연구에서는 촉매로 zinc acetate를 사용하였고 dimethyl terephthalate(DMT)와 ethylene glycol(EG)의 에스테르 교환을 통하여 polyethylene terephthalate(PET)의 단량체인 bishydroxyethyl terephthalate(BHET)를 생성하는 반응에 대하여 알아보았다. 기존의 kinetics 연구는 에스테르 교환 반응에서 생성되는 메탄올이 반응계에서 제거되는 반회분식공정을 바탕으로 하여 이때 제거된 메탄올 양을 측정하여 역반응이 무시된 반응 kinetics 모델을 구성하였다. 본 연구에서는 회분식 반응기를 통하여 DMT와 메탄올의 양을 정량하여, 역반응을 고려한 보다 정확한 kinetics 모델을 제안하였고, 제안된 모델의 예측값들이 실험값들과 잘 일치하는 것을 보였다. 또한 모델과 실험값을 분석하여 여러 공정 변수들이 에스테르 교환 반응에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다.
The kinetics of the transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) with ethylene glycol (EG) was studied in a batch reactor. Bishydroxyethyl terephthalate (BHET), which is poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) monomer, can be produced by the transesterification reaction. Zinc acetate was used as a catalyst. Previous kinetic studies was carried out in a semi-batch reactor where generated methanol was removed so that reverse reactions were not considered in the kinetic expressions, resulting in inaccuracy of the kinetic model. Mathematical models of a batch reactor for the tranesterification reaction were developed and used to characterize the reaction kinetics and the composition distribution of the reaction products. More accurate models than previous ones were obtained and found to have a good agreement between model predictions and experimental data. Effect of process variables on the esterification reaction was investigated based on the experimental and simulation results.
