The acid-catalysed transformation of light olefins was studied at various temperatures and partial pressures over ZSM-5 of varying acidic contents. It was observed that, as the temperature increased, the rate of consumption of ethene and propene decreased, whereas the rate of consumption of butene increased. Despite the fact that this reaction proceeds by a rather complex network mechanism, a single kinetic model describing the rate of consumption of the three reactants was developed, with the explicit inclusion of the step corresponding to the adsorption of the reactant molecules. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.