New approach for kinetic parameters determination for hydrothermal oxidation reaction

The purpose of this study is to test Runge-Kutta algorithm to obtain reliable kinetic parameters for the hydrothermal oxidation of organic compounds. A tubular reactor system was used to carry out the oxidation of several model compounds: acetic acid, methanol and phenol. All experiments were performed in isothermal conditions in a temperature range varying from 250 to 500 °C and at a constant pressure of 25 MPa. Three different methods, namely pseudo-first-order kinetics, multiple linear regression and Runge-Kutta algorithm, were used to determine the kinetic parameters. Results obtained by these different methods were similar, so that Runge-Kutta algorithm was validate for the determination of kinetic parameters. In contrast with the pseudo-first-order kinetics and the multi linear regression, Runge-Kutta algorithm was more convenient for the kinetic parameter determination starting from experiments performed at the laboratory scale or in industrial scale pilot plant facilities.