Influence of catalyst particle size on reaction kinetics: Hydrogenation of ethylene on nickel

✍ Scribed by J. W. Fulton; O. K. Crosser

• Publisher: American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Year: 1965
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 976 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0001-1541
• DOI: 10.1002/aic.690110328

✦ Synopsis

The influence of catalyst particle size upon the reaction rate was studied for the hydrogenation of ethylene with nickel-on-alumina in a packed-bed flow reactor. A threefold increase in particle diameter through a critical size range (0.03to 0.09-cm. diameter, corresponding to a Reynolds number of around 1) produced a thirtyfold increase in reaction rate per unit external surface area. The behavior of the system indicates that this increase was due to the influence of external gas-solid transport phenomena on the reaction kinetics. j-Factor correlations were used to calculate the catalyst surface temperatures and concentrations, which were used to calculate Arrhenius activation energies and reaction rates from available rate expressions.