New approach for kinetic parameters determination for hydrothermal oxidation reaction

The purpose of this study is to test Runge–Kutta algorithm to obtain reliable kinetic parameters for the hydrothermal oxidation of organic compounds. A tubular reactor system was used to carry out the oxidation of several model compounds: acetic acid, methanol and phenol. All experiments were performed in isothermal conditions in a temperature range varying from 250 to 500 °C and at a constant pressure of 25 MPa. Three different methods, namely pseudo-first-order kinetics, multiple linear regression and Runge–Kutta algorithm, were used to determine the kinetic parameters. Results obtained by these different methods were similar, so that Runge–Kutta algorithm was validate for the determination of kinetic parameters. In contrast with the pseudo-first-order kinetics and the multi linear regression, Runge–Kutta algorithm was more convenient for the kinetic parameter determination starting from experiments performed at the laboratory scale or in industrial scale pilot plant facilities.