Benzene alkylation with propylene over a Ca modified HY zeolite to obtain cumene has been studied. Time on stream behavior of the catalyst was quite steady without any sign of deactivation and the results were reproducible. The external mass transfer does not influence the cumene reaction. The pore diffusion has a substantial influence on the cumene reaction only in the final region of the reactor, where the olefin concentration is very low. A simple power law kinetic model fits the experimental data significantly better than other models. A general time and space dependent model was developed to analyze the performance of a two-phase downflow fixed bed reactor used for alkylation of benzene with zeolite catalyst. The model could be instructive in exploratory simulations evaluating the conditions for benzene alkylation in liquid phase.