The dehydration of n-butyl alcohol (butanol) over an alumina-silica catalyst was investigated by J. F. Maurer (Ph.D. thesis,
University of Michigan). The feed consisted of pure butanol.
a. Suggest a mechanism and rate-limiting step that are consistent with the experimental data.
b. Evaluate the rate-law parameters.
c. At the point where the initial rate is a maximum, what is the fraction of vacant sites? What is the fraction of occupied sites by both A and B? % vacant = 0.41

A graph compares the partial pressure of P subscript A0 (atmosphere) across the horizontal axis, with the initial rate, Negative r prime subscript A0 times Ib-mol over h time Ib subscript m catalyst in the vertical axis. The horizontal axis ranges from 0 to 200 in increments of 50 and the vertical axis ranges from 0 to 0.8 in increments of 0.2. A curve from the origin connects 4 plots. The curve significantly increases across the initial rate up to (50, 0.8) and then drops with increasing values of partial pressure. One of the plots is marked at (25, 0.54). Note: all values are approximate.

Transcribed Image Text:

Ib-mol Initial rate, -o (h) (lbm catalyst), 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 100 PAO (atm) 200