Experimental and Mathematical Analysis of the Kinetics of the Low-Waste Process of Butyl Lactate Synthesis

Abstract

Butyl lactate is a green solvent produced from renewable materials through the reaction of ammonium lactate with n-butanol. It could be a source material for valuable products such as propylene glycol, acrylic acid, its derivatives, and the cyclic monomer of polylactic acid (PLA)—lactate. In this study, we present novel non-catalytic interactions of ammonium lactate and n-butanol carried out in the temperature range of 130–170 °C in a closed system. The study focused on the kinetic modelling of the reaction between ammonium lactate and n-butanol to derive a mathematical model for the reactor unit of butyl lactate synthesis. The aim of this work was to study the kinetics of the interaction between ammonium lactate and n-butanol, as well as to obtain a kinetic model of the process and its parameters. We suggested the chemical transformation routes and determined the kinetic model and parameters that adequately describe the process in a closed system within the studied condition range. The study proposes the first kinetic model that accounts for lactamide formation through two routes. This study showed that the high-temperature non-catalytic interaction of ammonium lactate and n-butanol could be one of the prospective synthesis routes.