Kinetic data on the esterification of palmitic acid with isopropanol were obtained using homogeneous (para-toluene sulfonic acid, p-TSA) and heterogeneous (zinc ethanoate coated on silica gel, ZnA/SG) catalysts in a batch reactor. The ZnA/SG catalyst was prepared using a sol-gel technique. The esterification reaction was studied at different reaction temperatures (373-443 K), initial reactants molar ratio (1-5), catalyst loading (1-5 gcat dm(-3)) and water concentration in feed (0-15 vol%). A power law rate equation was used for homogeneous kinetics analysis. The Langmuir Hinshelwood Hougen Watson (LHHW) model was used for heterogeneous kinetics. The kinetic parameters of both models were obtained using Polymath software. The reaction parameters were used to obtain simulated values of conversion for both catalytic systems. The simulated values were compared with the experimental values and were in good agreement. (C) 2004 Society of Chemical Industry.