The kinetics of the IL-catalyzed reaction of isobutane
with 2-butene
and the size distribution of the dispersed IL droplets were investigated
in a stirred tank reactor. The results were used to calculate the
intrinsic reaction rate constant with a model accounting for the interplay
of external and internal mass transport and chemical reaction. The
intrinsic reaction rate was found to be very high, leading to a low
effectiveness factor of the IL catalyst. The used fraction of the
IL droplets with a diameter of about 400 μm was very small,
and the actual reaction took place only in a thin spherical shell
with a thickness of about 5 μm.