R Golhossein - ۱,۳Department of Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology
A. M. Rezaee - ۲,۴National Petrochemical Company, Petrochemical Research & Technology Company
A Naderifar - Department of Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology
M. J. Nasr - ۲,۴National Petrochemical Company, Petrochemical Research & Technology Company

To find the optimum operation conditions in rhodium-catalyzed methanol carbonylation, experimental runs were conducted in different constant pressures and temperatures in the catalyst system activation limit. The homogeneous catalytic reactions were performed in a semi-batch manner. Consequently, it is obtained that the rhodium catalyst in homogeneous methanol carbonylation media requires a certain temperature range for activation. Below the lower limit, 420 °K, the reaction does not occur at a reasonable rate and above the upper limit; because of the vapour pressure of the mixture and the absence of sufficient amount of CO the catalyst precipitates.

Activity Range, Homogeneous Methanol Carbonylation, Rhodium