Problem 6-13 (Level 3) The dehydration of mixtures of methanol and isobutanol to form ethers and olefins has been studied over a sulfonic acid (Nafion ) catalyst At high pressures, dimethylether (DME) is the predominant product. The reaction of methanol to form DME is a dehydration reaction: 2CHOH #CHOCHE + H2O (DME) The rate equation for the formation of DME is postulated to be k Kepa TOME (6-1) (1 + Kupa + Kg PB) where PM is the partial pressure of methanol, Pg is the partial pressure of isobutanol, and Ky and Kg are the corresponding adsorption equilibrium constants. To test the rate equation partially, kinetic data were taken using a differential plug-flow reactor operating at 375 K and a total pressure of 1.34 x 10 kPa. For a feed consisting only of methanol and nitrogen, the following data were obtained. PM (kPa) TOME (mol/kgcar-h) 0.155 0.156 0.200 0.217 0.219 0.220 30 40 80 120 160 240 1. Carry out a graphical analysis to determine whether the postu- lated rate equation fils the above data. Determine the "best" values of the unknown rate and equilibrium adsorption con- stants, k, and KM, from the results of the graphical analysis. 2. Carry out an nonlinear regression analysis to determine the "best" values of ki and Ky for the model of Eqn. 6-1. Compare these values with the ones obtained in