Fuel Processing Technology 92 (2011) 1836–1841

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Fuel Processing Technology

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / f u p r o c

Characterization and testing of sol–gel catalysts prepared as thin layers in a

plate reactor
Mohamed A. Al-Nakoua, Muftah H. El-Naas ⁎, Basim Abu-Jdayil
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box: 17555, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Catalytic plate reactors offer many advantages over conventional reactors, including a major reduction in size
Received 9 July 2010 and much better temperature control. This study examines the characteristics of thin catalyst coats prepared
Received in revised form 14 March 2011 by the sol–gel method and calcined at different conditions. Employing the catalyst as a thin layer (b 100 μm)
Accepted 9 April 2011
on the surface of plate reactors reduces mass and heat transfer limitations compared with pellet catalysts and
Available online 29 June 2011
can improve the effectiveness factor. A sol–gel of Ni/Al2O3 catalyst, with good rheological properties and good
Keywords:
adherence onto stainless steel substrate, was prepared and characterized. The effects of calcination
Catalytic plate reactor temperature, nickel content and calcination environment on the catalyst properties were investigated. The
Thin layer catalysts results revealed that the highest catalyst surface area was obtained at 400 °C for all calcined coatings. The
Catalytic coating presence of nitrogen gas during drying and calcining seemed to increase the catalyst surface areas and
Sol–gel improve its adherence properties. Rheological evaluation of the prepared coats proved to be an effective tool
in characterizing the thin coatings. The Ni/Al2O3 catalyst exhibited high activity and achieved more than 80%
conversion for steam reforming of methane. The reactions were not diffusion limited based on the values of
activation energy.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction exothermic and endothermic reaction on opposite sides of a plate

Most chemical products in the world market are manufactured
through heterogeneous catalytic processes. Reactors involving solid
catalysts represent a crucial tool in the chemical industry, and the
majority of reactors used in the gas–liquid processes contain catalysts
either as stationary or moving particles of various shapes and sizes.
These conventional reactors have a number of recognized restrictions
and disadvantages, including mass and heat transfer limitations, low
specific surface area of the catalyst, high pressure drop and thermal
instabilities (runaway) in stationary beds, or catalyst attrition and
device erosion in slurry reactors [1]. There are numbers of reports
demonstrating that these limitations can be avoided by employing
thin film catalyst using catalytic plate reactor methodology. The
advantages of catalytic plate reactor designs over conventional
reactors include excellent heat transfer characteristics and minimal
intra-catalyst diffusion resistance. The heat transfer mechanism
within a catalytic plate reactor is via conduction through the plate
separating alternate process channels; this heat transfer rate is largely
independent of the process gas superficial velocity. By utilizing the
catalytic heat exchanger plate reactor, a reduction in size of
equipment by two orders of magnitude is possible, even if there is
no improvement in the process catalyst. This concept, coupling an
forming part of a heat exchanger was first proposed by Hunter and
McGuire [2], has been highlighted by Ramshaw [3] for many years and
reviewed by Anxionnaz et al. [4]. It is illustrated in Fig. 1.
The use of sol–gel method for catalyst preparation has been
described by Pajonk [5]. The method has several advantages such as a
well-defined pore size distribution, high purity control of reactants,
homogeneity, very large and controlled porosity combined with the
ability to form large surface area. Moreover, the catalyst prepared by
sol–gel has high thermal stability and resistance to deactivation. High
metal dispersions and thermal resistant catalysts can be accomplished
by sol gel technique in the synthesis of supported metal catalyst, these
properties guide to maximizing support metal precursor interactions,
BET surface areas and support pore structure. The sol gel method may
use a variety of supports rather than alumina and silica to prepare
mixed oxide supports [6].
One of the most important potential applications of thin catalyst
coats is methane-steam reforming in a plate reactor according to the
following reactions:
CH4 + H2 O↔CO + 3H2 0
ΔH298k = + 206:1kJ = mol ð1Þ
CO + H2 O↔CO2 + H2
0
ΔH298k = −41:0kJ = mol ð2Þ

This is a particularly attractive target for the application of plate

⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: + 971 3 762 4262. reactors as there is a huge potential application in the distributed
E-mail address: muftah@uaeu.ac.ae (M.H. El-Naas). production of small quantities of hydrogen for fuel cells. The cost of a

0378-3820/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2011.04.020
 M.A. Al-Nakoua et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 92 (2011) 1836–1841
Exothermic
process gas
Heat
Endothermic
process gas
Fig. 1. A schematic diagram of pair of adjacent channels in a catalytic plate reactor.
plate reactor is not as scale sensitive as conventional reactors and
compactness and low weight also make it attractive for automotive
applications. Hydrogen is a clean burning fuel and can be directly
burnt in an internal combustion engine or electrochemically trans-
formed to electricity in a fuel cell. Neither of these methods produces
carbon dioxide nor monoxide [7].
For many years nickel has been regarded as the most suitable
metal for steam reforming of methane. Other metals can be
employed; for example cobalt, platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthe-
nium and rhodium. Some of these precious metals are more active per
unit mass than nickel but are more expensive and nickel is effectively
active to enable suitable catalysts to be produced economically.
Therefore, various metals that modify the active phase can be added to
increase the practical life and the stability of the nickel supported
catalysts.
Preparation techniques are crucial in developing an active,
selective, stable and durable catalyst. Although the sol–gel technique
has been adopted for stainless steel substrate and micro-channel
reactors coatings [8–11], there have been limited studies on the
characterization and testing of catalyst coats prepared by the sol–gel
method. Recently, Mirzaei, et al. [12] investigated the preparation and
characterization of sol–gel catalysts. However, their study focused on
using catalyst powder in a fixed bed reactor for Fisher–Tropsch
reactions. To the best of the authors' knowledge there have been no
reports in the open literature on the testing of sol–gel coats in
important potential applications such as methane steam reforming.
The main objective of the present study, therefore, was to investigate
the preparation and characterization of sol–gel nickel–alumina
catalyst coatings, and to evaluate their potential in reducing mass
transfer limitations in methane steam reforming.
2. Experimental methods
2.1. Synthesis of sol–gel
Catalysts were prepared by dispersing ‘Disperal’ alumina supplied
by Sasol, Germany [13] in a solution of dilute nitric acid (1 wt.%,
0.11 M) to give 5 wt.% alumina sol–gel. Since the powder contains 78%
of alumina this was taken into account when making up the sol–gel.
The alumina was poured into a 100 ml measuring beaker containing
the acid then the sol gel was mixed for 10 to 15 min. A glass propeller,
with a spinning speed of approximately 200 rpm provided by rotating
motor, was used for mixing. Nickel, as nitrates, was added to the
alumina sol–gel to give the desired nickel/alumina ratio. After
vigorous stirring at room temperature for about 30 min, the sol–gel
was ready for testing or coating. The nickel fraction in the nickel/
alumina mixture was varied from 5 to 75 wt.%. Although the nickel
will be oxidized during the calcination process, it will be reduced by
the addition of hydrogen before any methane reforming application. It
1837
Exothermic
catalyst
Plate
Endothermic
catalyst
is expected that the starting Ni fraction will remain the same after the
reduction process.
2.2. Surface area and pore size measurements
Pure alumina and three Ni/Al2O3 sol–gel recipes (25, 50 and 75% Ni)
were poured into crucibles, dried at 100 °C and calcined at temperatures
ranging from 300 to 700 °C. The surface area and pore size were
determined by the Accelerated Surface Area and Porosity system (ASAP
2010, Micromeretics, US) fitted with an optional high stability 1 Torr
(1 mmHg (0 °C)) pressure transducer employing the static volumetric
method. The samples were degassed at 200 °C on the degas ports of the
analyzer under reduced pressure of 10− 5 Torr (10− 5 mmHg (0 °C)).
The BET surface area and pore size were then determined through the
adsorption of nitrogen (purity 99.999%) at −196 °C.
2.3. Coating of the stainless steel shims
Stainless steel shims (thin sheets) were coated by careful dipping
into the sol jar using tweezers; the bottom face of the shims was
cleaned using tissues. The shims, which were 35 mm in length, 35 mm
in width and 2 mm in thickness, were dried in a muffle furnace at
100 °C. The shims were recoated for a second and a third time and
then calcined at 400 °C. The topology of calcined Ni/Al2O3 catalysts
(25, 50 and 75% Ni) coatings was examined visually, by Scanning
Electron Microscope (SEM), and by Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX).
The EDX analysis was carried out using Jeol, Model JSM-5600.
2.4. Rheological measurements
Rheological properties of the prepared sol–gels were measured
with a Rheolab QC viscometer from Anton Paar, Germany. Concentric
cylinder measuring system used is according to ISO 3219 and DIN
53019. The shear stress (τ) of the samples was measured as a function
of shear rate (γ̇) at a constant temperature. All rheological tests were
performed at 25 °C. The measurements were carried out with
increasing (forward measurements) and decreasing (backward
measurements) shear rates.
2.5. Catalyst testing
A plate reactor (see Fig. 2) was specially designed and fabricated
from stainless steel to test the prepared catalyst coatings; the reactor
external dimensions were 125 mm × 25 mm × 10 mm. The coats were
applied on the walls of a longitudinal channel of 8 × 2 mm cross-
section, giving a channel surface area of 25 cm2. The channel
dimension is similar to those in commercial compact reactors. The
reaction temperatures were measured along the length of the channel
using six thermocouples, their tips positioned at about 0.5 mm from
the channel internal surface. The reactor was coated with catalyst by
1838 M.A. Al-Nakoua et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 92 (2011) 1836–1841

Channel length 125 mm

Reactor width
Channel 25 mm
width Reaction zone
8 mm

Thermocouple holes

Fig. 2. A diagram showing the dimensions of the catalytic plate reactor.

forcing the sol–gel through the channel, blowing out the surplus and
air-drying. The reactor was placed axially in a muffle furnace, which
also preheated the feed to the reaction temperature. Multiple coats
were used to build up the desired catalyst weight and calcined in the
presence of nitrogen stream at the desired temperature. The reactor
was light enough to be weighed to ±1 mg, giving accuracy in the
mass of catalyst of ±1%. After calcination, the catalysts were reduced
in-situ in a stream of hydrogen at 600 °C for at least 2 h; a small flow
of hydrogen (about 1 l/h) was maintained throughout the experi-
ments to prevent the metal from re-oxidation.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. BET surface area and pore size distribution
The calcining temperature was varied from 300 to 700 °C. It is
observed that the catalyst calcined at 400 °C has the highest surface
area and well-defined pore size distribution for all catalyst ratios. The
results also revealed that increasing the metal (nickel) content
decreased the surface area as shown in Fig. 3. However, the results
showed that the surface area and pore volume of the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst
were much lower than those for pure alumina (Table 1). These effects
on the characteristic of alumina sol–gels when mixed with metal salt
solutions have been reported to be caused by an alteration in pH and
ion (cation and anion) concentrations of the sol [8]. This affects the
consistency of the sol–gel resulting in agglomeration and hence
decreasing the pore volume and surface areas of the calcined sol–gel
as shown in Table 1. The Effect of the presence of nitrogen gas during
drying and calcining on the catalyst surface area was also investigated.
The sol gel samples were dried at 100 °C and calcined at 400 °C with
and without nitrogen purge in tube furnace. The surface area results
are presented in Fig. 4 for different nickel contents and show that the
250
0% Ni
25% Ni
BET surface area (m 2/g)
surface area is slightly higher in the presence of nitrogen stream for all
catalyst ratios. This is in agreement with results reported in literature
[10], which concluded that the presence of nitrogen stream is
constructive during drying and calcining process.
3.2. Coating characterization
Most of the recipes adhered well to the substrate and flakes were
only observed at low nickel content (25% Ni). The SEM images of the
calcined samples, which are shown in Fig. 5, indicate that less cracks
were observed for relatively higher nickel content (50% Ni). Three
coats of Ni (50%)/Al2O3 (50%) catalyst formed cracks with a width
about 5 μ and from 50 to 500 μ length (Fig. 5B). On other hand, three
coats of Ni (25%)/Al2O3 (75%) catalyst formed cracks with a width
about 50 μ and infinite length where the cracks connected to each
other, see Fig. 5A.
Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, equipped with SEM, were
carried out on multiple and random points on the coated shims. The
results showed that the metal and support were evenly distributed
within the catalyst layer as clearly illustrated by Fig. 6 for two coatings
with different nickel contents. Iron, which appeared in the EDX
analysis, was from the stainless steel substrate. An additional benefit
of using sol–gel method is that the quantity of active metal in the
catalyst is precisely known and is simple to adjust. This also provides a
good dispersion of the metal in the calcined catalyst. The sol–gel
method put an end to the routine manner to coat the substrate with
the support, calcine, impregnate with active metal and then further
calcine.
3.3. Rheology of the sol–gel
The flow curves of sol–gel samples with different Ni content were
measured in the shear rate range of 10–1500 1/s. Fig. 7 shows the
apparent viscosity of 25% Ni and 50% Ni samples as a function of shear
rate. Both samples exhibited shear thinning behavior. Viscosity of a
shear thinning material is dependent on the degree of the shear load

200 50% Ni
75% Ni (shear rate), where the apparent viscosity decreases with increasing
load. For the sol–gel samples, the shear process can cause the particles
150 to be oriented into the flow direction. During this process, the
interactive forces between the particles are usually becoming weaker

100
Table 1
Surface area and pore volume for samples calcined at 400 °C.
50
Ni% BET Total pore Micropore Mesopore Pore Micropore
area volume volume, volume diameter volume
0 (m2/g) (cm3/g) (cm3/g) (cm3/g) A fraction
300 400 500 600 700 800
0 189.84 0.28 0.0027 0.28 59.57 0.0097
Temperature (oC) 25 142.05 0.22 0.0097 0.21 61.35 0.0447
50 106.11 0.28 0.0075 0.27 104.90 0.0269
75 64.29 0.19 0.0053 0.19 120.65 0.0273
Fig. 3. BET surface area versus calcination temperature for different Ni/Al2O3 ratios.
 M.A. Al-Nakoua et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 92 (2011) 1836–1841 1839

210
N2 Purge
180 No Purge
BET surface area (m 2/g)

150

120

90

60

30
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Amount of Ni (wt% )

Fig. 4. Effect of nitrogen purge on BET surface area for different nickel contents at
400 °C.

and weaker, resulting in a decrease in viscosity [14]. This behavior of

both samples suggests that they can be used for coating; whereas a
shear thickening behavior can cause problems during a coating
process leading to coating streaks and poor adherence to the
substrate. On the other hand, hysteresis test and step test with
three intervals were conducted to investigate the thixotropic behavior
of sol–gel, but both samples did show noteworthy time-dependent
behavior. The Herschel–Bulkley model best described the flow curves
of both samples; see Fig. 8.
n
τ = τ0 + mγ̇
A the magnitude of the yield stress τ0 depends on the strength of the
Fig. 6. EDX analysis of three coats of catalyst calcined at 400 °C over a metal shim. A: Ni
(25%)/Al2O3 (75%); B: Ni (50%)/Al2O3 (50%).
where τ is the shear stress in Pa, τ0 is the yield stress in Pa, γ̇ is the
shear rate in 1/s, m is the consistency coefficient and n is the flow
behavior index. Herschel–Bulkley materials that behave as a rigid
solid under the effect of shear stress lower than a finite stress are
ð3Þ known as the yield stress. The rheological parameters obtained for
samples with different nickel contents are listed in Table 2. The yield
stress of 25% Ni sample is greater than that of 50% Ni samples. Since
particle network, these values indicate that interparticle forces are
strong when nickel content is 25% compared with the sample of 50%
Ni content. In fact the yield stress decreases with increasing the nickel
content beyond 25%. The value of n for the nickel-containing samples
is less than one which confirms the shear thinning behavior of these
samples. The 25% Ni sample has a lower flow behavior index than
those of the 50% and 75% Ni, indicating its higher pseudoplasticidity.
This explains the higher surface area obtained for coating with this
sample. On the other hand, the higher n value of 50% Ni sample (0.51)
means that it is near-Newtonian behavior (n = 1) with more stable
structure. In addition, at high shear rate, the 50% Ni sample showed
constant viscosity (Fig. 7), which indicates that it is more stable than

1000
B 25% Ni
50% Ni
Viscosity (mPa.s)

100

10
100 1000
Shear Rate (1/s)
Fig. 5. SEM images of three coats of catalyst calcined at 400 °C over a metal shim. A: Ni
(25%)/Al2O3 (75%); B: Ni (50%)/Al2O3 (50%). Fig. 7. Apparent viscosity of 25% Ni and 50% Ni samples as a function of shear rate.
1840 M.A. Al-Nakoua et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 92 (2011) 1836–1841

0.9 740
25% Ni
50% Ni 0.8 720
H-B Model
Shear Stress (Pa)

Temperature ( oC)
0.7 700

Conversion
0.6 680

0.5 660

10
0.4 640

0.3 Conversion 620

Avg. temperature

10 100 1000 0.2 600

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Shear Rate (1/s) Continuous time on stream (h)

Fig. 8. Flow curves of 25% Ni and 50% Ni samples fitted to Herschel–Bulkley model. Fig. 9. Conversion and average reactor temperature versus time over Ni(50%)/Al2O3
(50%) at 40 psig (276 kPa), catalyst loading 4.8 mg/cm2.

25% Ni sample. This led to less cracks for the latter, as illustrated by
Fig. 5B, since unstable coating lead to large shrinkage, surface cracking 140
and bulk material defects. Constant viscosity at high shear rate is

Activation Energy (kJ/mol)

indicative of completely hydrodynamically controlled material
structure [15].
3.4. Catalytic activity test
The catalyst preparation method outlined above produced Ni
(50%)/Al2O3(50%) catalyst that adhered well to stainless steel (type
316) and showed a high activity. Two coats of sol–gel with
intermediate drying gave a catalyst loading of 4.8 mg/cm2 after
calcination. This catalyst film gave above 80% methane conversion
when continuously used for more than 15 h at 40 psig (276 kPa)
pressure and temperature from 625 to 720 °C as shown in Fig. 9. The
methane flow rate was 0.58 mol/h with a 3:1 M steam: methane ratio.
This study focuses mainly on catalyst preparation and characteriza-
tion. An important and significant feature of the prepared catalyst is
the reduction of mass transfer limitation and will be discussed in
Section 3.5. A thorough evaluation of the catalyst performance
including comparison with other catalysts or previous studies is still
under investigation and will be presented in an upcoming publication.
3.5. Diffusion limitation
In catalytic plate reactors, small channels coated with a thin
catalyst film offer short diffusion and conduction path lengths for
rapid mass, and heat transfer. This results in minimal intra-catalyst
diffusion limitations and thus high catalyst utilization (effectiveness
factor ≈ 1). However, results showed that increasing the catalyst
loading in the plate reactors results in enhancement of methane
conversion under the same reaction conditions. The catalyst thickness
is estimated to be up to 50 μm, assuming that the layer is uniformly
deposited and has a porosity of 35%. At such thickness, internal mass
and heat transfer resistances are considered to be negligible. The
activation energy of Nickel/Alumina catalyst decreases as catalyst
loading increases as shown in Fig. 10. The apparent activation energy
varied from 100 to 92 kJ/mol as the catalyst thickness varied from 22
Table 2
Herschel–Bulkley parameters for samples with different nickel contents (0–75% Ni).
Ni% τo (Pa) m (Pa ⋅ sn) n R2
0 0.0 0.0067 1.0
25 12.40 0.882 0.37
50 9.20 0.321 0.51
75 3.45 0.355 0.51
120
100
80
60
40
20
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Catalyst Loading (mg/cm 2)
Fig. 10. Activation energy vs. catalyst loading over 50 wt.% Ni/Al2O3.
to 45 μm, based on the density of 50 wt.% Ni/Al2O3 catalyst estimated
at 2 g/cm3. These activation energy values represent the apparent
activation energy, assuming that the methane reaction is first order.
As a rule of thumb, chemical reaction will be rate limiting if the
apparent activation energy is greater than 40 kJ/mol; if it is in the
range of 12–15 kJ/mol or lower then the transport processes are
assuming a greater degree of control over the reaction [16]. This
clearly indicates that in the range of catalyst loadings examined in this
study, the steam reforming reaction apparent activation energy values
are too high for any diffusion limitation.
4. Conclusions
• It has been demonstrated that sol gel method facilitates catalyst
preparation. The sol–gels can be prepared to have good rheological
properties for coating onto stainless steel substrate, which can form
an adherent thin catalyst layer with good metal dispersion.
• The results indicated that the highest surface area of calcined Ni/
Al2O3 catalyst was at 400 °C for all catalyst ratios and decreased with
the increment of nickel content.
• Presence of nitrogen gas stream during drying and calcining on the
catalyst surface area was beneficial for all catalyst ratios.
• Samples with 50% nickel contents had more stable structure due to
0.998 the high flow behavior index (n) and Newtonian behavior at high
0.986 shear rate.
0.994 • The nickel/alumina sol–gel mixtures showed shear-thinning and
0.980
noteworthy time-dependent behavior.
 M.A. Al-Nakoua et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 92 (2011) 1836–1841 1841

• The methane conversion of 50 wt.% Ni/Al2O3 catalyst was more than [3] C. Ramshaw, Process intensification—a game for n players, Chemical Engineer 415
(1985) 30–33.
80% at 720 °C. [4] Z. Anxionnaz, M. Cabassud, C. Gourdon, P. Tochon, Heat exchanger/reactors (HEX
• The values of activation energy indicate that the reaction is free from reactors): concepts, technologies: State-of-the-art, Chemical Engineering and
any diffusion limitation effect. Processing 47 (2008) 2029–2050.
[5] G.M. Pajonk, Application of the sol–gel method to the preparation of some
catalytic solid materials, Heterogeneous Chemistry Reviews 2 (1995) 129–141.
Nomenclature [6] R.D. Gonzalez, T. Lopez, R. Gomez, Sol–Gel preparation of supported metal
m consistency coefficient catalysts”, Catalysis Today 35 (3) (1997) 293–317.
[7] Y.S. Seo, A. Shirley, S.T. Kolaczkowski, Evaluation of thermodynamically favour-
n flow behavior index able operating conditions for production of hydrogen in three different reforming
technologies, Journal of Power Sources 108 (2002) 213–225.
[8] D. Truyen, M. Courty, P. Alphonse, F. Ansart, Catalytic coatings on stainless steel
prepared by sol–gel route, Thin Solid Films 495 (2006) 257–261.
Greek letters [9] R. J. Charlesworth, The steam reforming and combustion of methane on micro-
τ shear stress (Pa) thin catalyst for use in a catalytic plate reactor, Ph D thesis, Department of
τ0 yield stress (Pa) Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne,
UK, 1996.
γ̇ shear rate (1/s) [10] M. Babovic, Enhanced heat transfer to endothermic reactions by catalytic
combustion in small channels, Ph D thesis, School of Chemical Engineering and
Advanced Materials, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2003.
[11] M. Nakoua, Syngas production processes on thin film catalysts for use in catalytic
Acknowledgments plate reactors, Ph D thesis, School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced
Materials, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2004.
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support [12] A.A. Mirzaei, A. Beig babaei, M. Galavy, A. Youssef, A silica supported Fe–Co
bimetallic catalyst prepared by the sol/gel technique: operating conditions,
provided by the Research Affairs at the UAE University. Our thanks go catalytic properties and characterization, Fuel Processing Technology 91 (2010)
to Dr. Ali Dowaidar for his help and useful suggestions. Special thanks 335–347.
are due to Hassan Kamal and Isaam Shabaan for their help with the [13] Sasol, High purity dispersible aluminas-Disperal/DispalAccessed April 2010,
http://www.sasoltechdata.com/tds/DISPERAL_DISPAL.pdf.
analytical and experimental work. [14] T.G. Mezger, The Rheology Handbook, 2nd edn., VINCENTZ, Hannover, Germany,
2006.
References [15] C.G. Fonseca, R.M.F. Basaglia, M.C. Brant, T. Matencio, R.Z. Domingues, Study of the
rheological behavior of an anode slurry and the microstructural properties of an
[1] A.I. Stankiewicz, Process intensification in in-line monolithic reactor, Chemical anode functional film obtained by spry coating, Powder Technology 192 (2009)
Engineering Science 56 (2001) 356–364. 352–358.
[2] J. Hunter and G., McGuire, Method and apparatus for catalytic heat exchanger, in [16] R.L. Augustine, Heterogeneous catalysis for the synthetic chemist, Marcel Dekker,
U.S. Patent No. 4,214,867, 1980. INC, New York, 1996.