Kinetic study on the synthesis of ethyl nitrite by the reaction of C2H5OH, O2, and NO in a trickle bed reactor

The synthesis of ethyl nitrite by the reaction of C2H5OH, O2, and NO, called the regeneration reaction in the synthesis of ethylene glycol (EG) by the coupling reaction-hydrogenation process, is carried out in a trickle bed reactor filled with θ-mesh rings at 313–343 K and atmospheric pressure. It is shown that the conversion of O2 increases with the NO/O2 and the EtOH/NO molar ratios, and decreases with the N2 volume fraction and the liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV). O2 conversion reaches a maximum (∼90.9%) at 333 K, NO/O2 molar ratio of 6:1, EtOH/NO molar ratio of 3:1, N2 volume fraction of 50%, and LHSV of 2.65 h−1. The synthesis reaction is a fast one and takes place in a liquid film. A kinetics model based on the two-film model of gas–liquid reaction is proposed. The experiment data fit the kinetics model very well and statistical tests also show their reliability.