Unit III – GAS-SOLID CATALYTIC REACTORS

 Diffusion within catalyst particle

 Effective thermal conductivity
 Mass and heat transfer within catalyst pellets
 Effective factors
 Thiele Modulus
 Fixed bed reactors
Solid Catalyzed Reactions
 A substance that enhances the rate of a chemical reaction and is recovered at the end of the
reaction without change in its mass and chemical composition is called a catalyst.
 A catalyst which has a large area resulting from pores is called as a porous catalyst.
Characteristics of solid catalyst:
Activity – it is a measure of the accelerating effect that a catalyst has on the rate of a given reaction.
Specificity (selectivity) – A property of a catalyst to speed up the main reaction (produce desired product) in
the presence of several side reactions.
Mechanism of solid catalyzed reactions
 Diffusion of reactant “A” from bulk fluid phase to the external surface of the catalyst through the
fluid film– External or surface diffusion step.
 Diffusion of the reactant from the pore mouth into the catalyst pores – Pore diffusion step.
 Adsorption of reactant “A” onto the catalyst surface (External and pore surfaces).
 Chemical reaction of the adsorbed reactant on the surface of the catalyst to form product (Surface
reaction)
 Desorption of products from the surface to the fluid phase near the surfaces.
 Diffusion of the desorbed products from the interior of the catalyst to the pore mouth at the
external surface i.e. to the external surface (Reverse pore diffusion).
 Diffusion of the products from the external surface into the bulk fluid phase through the fluid film
surrounding the catalyst (Reverse-external diffusion)
The rate of the reaction for the porous catalyst particle depends upon
 Surface kinetics
 Pore (diffusion) resistances – reduced by reducing the catalyst particle size, which thus shortens the
diffusion path
 Particle temperature gradient – caused by evolution or absorption of large amount of heat during
reaction
 Film temperature gradient – temperature difference b/w the outer surface of the catalyst particle
and the bulk gas stream
 Film (diffusion) resistance – concentration gradient across the gas film surrounding the catalyst
particle
Diffusion
 The process which causes the net movement of molecules from higher concentration to one of
lower concentration without the help of any external force at a fixed temperature and pressure is
called diffusion.
 Diffusion occurs as a result of thermal movement of molecules.
 During its movement, a molecule collides with other molecules and changes it speed and direction.
 So the rate of diffusional movement depends on the number of collisions between the molecules.
Types of diffusion
 Atomic diffusion in solids.
 Eddy diffusion, in coarse-grained description of turbulent flow
 Effusion of a gas through small holes.
 Electronic diffusion, resulting in an electric current called the diffusion current.
 Facilitated diffusion, present in some organisms.
 Gaseous diffusion, used for isotope separation
 Heat equation, diffusion of thermal energy
 Ito diffusion, mathematisation of Brownian motion, continuous stochastic process.
 Knudsen diffusion of gas in long pores with frequent wall collisions
 Momentum diffusion, ex. the diffusion of the hydrodynamic velocity field
 Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a cell membrane.
 Photon diffusion
 Reverse diffusion, against the concentration gradient, in phase separation
 Rotational diffusion, random reorientations of molecules
 Surface diffusion, diffusion of particles on a surface
  Primarily employed in the manufacture of Industrial chemicals
 Most widely used reactors for immobilized enzymes and immobilized microbial cells

Advantages:

 High conversion per unit mass of catalyst

 Low operating cost
 Stabilization of operating conditions

Disadvantages:

 Poor temperature control

 Undesired thermal gradients may exist
 Channeling may occur
 Unit may be difficult to service and clean

Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR)

 Primarily employed in petroleum refineries in the cracking of crude oil.

 In this type of reactor, a fluid (gas or liquid) is passed through a granular solid material
(usually a catalyst possibly shaped as tiny spheres) at high enough velocities to suspend the
solid and cause it to behave as though it were a fluid
Advantages:

 Good mixing
 Good uniformity of temperature
 Catalyst can be continuously regenerated with the use of an auxiliary loop
Disadvantages:

 Bed-fluid mechanics not well known

 Severe agitation can result in catalyst destruction and dust formation
 Uncertain scale-up
 Entrainment loss