Ultrasound assisted esterification of butyric acid with methanol was investigated in an ultrasound
irradiated isothermal batch reactor using acid ion-exchange resin (amberlyst-15) as a catalyst. Effect of
parameters such as temperature (323–353 K), catalyst loading (0–8.5% w/w), alcohol to acid ratio, M
(2–6), ultrasound power (0–145 W), duty cycle (0–85%) and amount of molecular sieves added (0–
11% w/w) on the rate of reaction was studied. At optimized parameters, a maximum conversion of
91.64% was obtained in 120 min in presence of ultrasound. Experimental kinetic data were correlated
by using Eley–Rideal (ER) and Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson (LHHW) models taking into
account reverse reaction. Studies showed that single site LHHW with reactants and products both adsorbing
on catalyst surface was most suited for the obtained experimental data. Activation energy determined
based on heterogeneous kinetics was in the range 49.31–57.54 kJ/mol while it was 18.29 kJ/mol using
homogeneous model