A lumped kinetic model for liquid-phase catalytic oxidation ofp-xylene to terephthalic acid

A lumped kinetic scheme for the liquid-phase oxidation ofp-xylene to terephthalic acid catalyzed by cobalt naphthenate is developed. It is assumed that all the reactions are zeroth- and first-order with respect to gaseous and liquid reactants, respectively. The reliability of the developed kinetic model is investigated by comparison with experimental data obtained in a semibatch oxidation reactor where the gas phase and the liquid phase are well mixed. The experiments included different values of the initial concentration of the liquid reactants, two gaseous reactants (i.e. pure oxygen and air) and temperature values in the range of 100–130°C.