Empirical Modelling and Optimization of Zinc Chloride Activated Ngbo Clay Catalysts Using Response Surface Methodology

Abstract: In this study, Box-Behnken’s Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to study the esterification reaction effectiveness of zinc chloride activated Ngbo clay catalyst. The XRF result showed that both raw and activated clay contain contaminations of oxides and other impurities; however, the clay mineral compositions are not significantly affected by zinc chloride treatments. Additionally, it indicates a high content of silicon and aluminium oxides compared to other oxides.XRD pattern results showed several characteristic peaks due to the mineral compositions present. The analysis of the peaks showed sharp peaks with low intensity at 2θ = 11.300, which corresponds to the main peak used in the identification of kaolinite clay, as reported in the literature.The esterification was monitored based on the process conditions of temperature, time duration, amount of reactant, catalyst weight and particle size. The Box -Behnken’s Response Surface Methodology indicates that the zinc chloride clay-catalysed esterification reactions proceed through dual mechanisms: an Acid-complex and an Alcohol-complex mechanism, with the Alcohol mechanism dominating. The esterification efficiencies of acetic acid and ethanol by zinc chloride activated Ngbo clay catalyst, optimized using RSM models indicated the estimated esterification percentage of ˃95%. The predicted and experimental values obtained under the same conditions showed a difference of less than 5%, indicating that the Box-Behnken design approach is an efficient, effective, and reliable method for the esterification of acetic acid with ethanol. The produced catalyst was optimized using A-One way ANOVA modelling, which indicated a correlation coefficient of the regression of 0.9551, which implies that 95.51% of the total variation in the esterification reaction was attributed to the experimental variables. The result obtained indicated that the process could be applied in the esterification of acetic acid to avoid the drawbacks of corrosion, loss of catalyst and environmental problems. 

Optimization, Characterization, Esterification, Zinc Chloride Activated Clay Catalyst, Thermal activated catalyst, Response Surface Methodology, Box-Behnken design

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