OPTIMIZATION OF SYNTHESIS OF METHYL ACETATE FROM ACETIC ACID AND METHANOL USING MICROWAVE-ASSISTED ESTERIFICATION

Methyl acetate has wide applications in the production of solvents, perfumes, surfactants, emulsifiers, biodiesel fuels, and surface-active agents. It is produced by catalytic esterification of acetic acid and methanol with sulfuric acid as a catalyst in a batch reactor. This research was done to produce methyl acetate by a microwave method as it is more effective and efficient than the conventional methods. The variables used as parameters refer to the microwave power (300 W; 450 W; 600 W), concentration of catalyst (0 %; 3.5 %; 7 %), methanol to acetic acid ratio (0.75:1; 1:1; 1.25:1) and esterification time (10 min; 20 min; 30 min). The effect of each variable was analyzed using the Box-Behnken design (BBD) from the response surface methodology (RSM). The combination of microwave technology and BBD in optimizing response variables is a new and modern method for esterification process in producing methyl acetate. Furthermore, the ANOVA analysis shows that the important factors to determine methyl acetate production are the microwave power, concentration of catalyst, methanol to acetic acid ratio, and esterification time. Besides, the R² value of 0.9828 is indicating the model conformity used in describing the experimental results. The optimal conversion to methyl acetate of 98.76 % was obtained at: microwave power 577.47 W, methanol to acetic acid ratio of 1.19:1, concentration of catalyst 4.08 %, and esterification time 24.45 min.