CHAPTER 3:

Application Reactor and

Catalyst

DR MOHD LOKMAN BIN IBRAHIM

FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR
Why study reactors?
1. The design of catalyst and
reactor are closely
interrelated.
2. Design of catalytic processes
requires a knowledge reactor
design, operation optimization
and selection
3. Progress in improving our
standard of living depends on
our ability to design reactors
4. Our personal existence
depends on controlling cellular
reactions in our body while
that of the human race hangs
on the outcome of enormous
global reactions.
Definition and Classification of Reactors
1. What is a Reactor?
a. A device that encloses the reaction space, and which
houses the catalyst and reacting media.
b. A container to which reactants are fed and products
removed, that provides for the control of reaction
conditions.

2.Classification of Reactors
a. Size
b. Methods of charging/discharging: batch or steady-state flow
c. Motion of particles with respect to each other
c. Fluid flow type: tubular or mixed-fluid
d. Reactor material
Table 1. Classification of Catalytic Reactors
Basis for Classes Examples
Classification
Size Laboratory 0.5 cm diam. tubular microreactor (0.1-1 g catalyst)
Bench scale 2.5 cm diam. x 30-50 cm long tubular reactor (50-
Pilot scale 200 g catalyst)
Plant scale 7.5 cm diam x 6-10 m long tubular reactor (20-100
kg catalyst)
1-6 m diam x 20-50 m long tubular reactor (20-100
metric tons cat.)
Methods of Batch Stirred liquid and solids
charging and Flow, steady a. tubular, fixed catalyst bed
discharging state b. slurry, mixed fluid, mixed solids

Motion of catalyst Fixed Tubular fixed solids (fixed bed)

particles relative to Relative a. fluidized bed
each other motion b. slurry bubble column

Fluid flow Tubular, plug Turbulent gas in tubular fixed bed Slurry reactor
flow with mechanical stirring
Mixed fluid
flow
 Hardware Scientific & Scientific &
and Engineering Engineering
Software Tasks Disciplines

Discover
Reaction

Reactor/Process Laboratory
Reactor Catalys t Prop.
Chemical Kinetics
and Catalysis

design perspective
Intrinsic Diff., Mas s Trans
Kinetics
Kinetic Model
Development

Reaction
Rate/Selectivity & Engineering &
Rate Equation
Mathematics
Reactor Model
Development

Reactor Model Reactor /Process

Design

Fig. 1 Structure of Catalytic

Catalytic Reactor
Process Development [adapted from Design
J. M. Smith, Chem. Eng. Prog., 64,
78 (1968)].
Pilot Plant Process Design
Reactor Economics

Finl. Plant Design

& Economic
Studies

Large Scale
Plant
 Choosing reactors in the lab and plant
Reactors are used for many different purposes:
1. To study the mechanisms and kinetics of chemical reactions
to provide data for validation of process simulations
2. To investigate process performance over a range of process
variables
3. To obtain design data
4. To produce energy, materials and products.

Choosing the right reactor is critical to the engineering

process and is dictated by many different variables
such as
• Reaction type
• Rate of deactivation
• Economics
• Other process requirements
 Comparison Between Lab Scale and Industrial
Scale Reactors

LAB SCALE INDUSTRIAL

Dimension the reactions are carried diameter and
out in micro reactors with height of reactors
diameters ranging from 1 can vary from 1 to
– 5 mm for testing up to 10 m and 2 to30 m
0.1 – 1gm of catalysts respectively.

reactor usually made of glass, depending on usage

materials quartz or stainless steel are usually made of
with few mm wall mild steel or
thicknesses stainless steel or
other alloys. The
wall thickness can
range from of 6-15
mm depending on
process pressure.
Common Types of Reactor

1.Batch reactor (BR, STR)

2.Continuous reactors
i. Tubular reactors
ii. Fixed bed reactors
iii. Fluid bed reactor
iv. Continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR)

3. Plug flow reactor (PFR)

Common Lab and Bench Scale Reactors

1. fixed bed tubular

2. stirred gas, fixed bed
3. stirred liquid/gas, stirred
catalyst
4. fluid bed
5. fixed bed, transient gas flow

Laboratory and bench-scale reactors vary greatly

in size, complexity, cost, and application.
 Batch Reactor (BR, STR)
• A “batch” of reactants is introduced into the reactor operated
at the desired conditions until the target conversion is reached.
• Batch reactors are typically tanks in which stirring of the
reactants is achieved using internal impellers, gas bubbles, or a
pump-around loop where a fraction of the reactants is removed
and externally recirculated back to the reactor.
• The reactants are initially charged into the vessel and are well
mixed and left to react for a certain period of time. The
resultant mixture is then discharged. This is an unsteady
operation where the composition changes with time but is
uniform throughout the reactor at a specific time.

Application:

oFermentation of beverage products

oWaste water treatment
 Batch Reactors (Stirred Tanks)
1. The Batch reactor is the generic term for a type of vessel
(Cylinder Tank) widely used in the process industries.
2. A typical batch reactor consists of a tank with an agitator and
integral heating/cooling system. Heating/cooling uses
jacketed walls, internal coil, and internal tube.

Batch reactor with half

coil jacket

Batch reactor with

single external cooling Batch reactor with
jacket constant flux
(Coflux) jacket
 Advantages of batch reactor

1. Batch reactor Can be stopped between batches, so the

production rate is flexible
2. Batch reactors are more flexible, in that one can easly use
different compositions in different batches to produces
product with different spesification
3. If the process degrades the reactor in some way, a batch
reactor can be cleaned, relined, etc. between batches. Where
continuous reactors must run a long time before that can be
done.
4. If the reactant are stirred, a batche reactor can often achieve
better quality than a plug flow reactor, and better productivity
than a CSTR
Fig. 1.
Schematic
diagram of
different
type of
reactors
@HakCipta Dr Rusnah Samsuddin CMT674
Table 2. Laboratory and Bench-Scale Catalytic Reactors
Classes Class Examples Features
Fixed bed tubular Laboratory 0.5 cm diam tubular microreactor (0.1-1 g
differential/integral catalyst, solid catalyst, gas fluid; glass or metal
Bench-scale integral 2.5 cm diam. x 30-50 cm long tubular reactor
(50-200 g catalyst); solid catalyst, gas or liquid
fluid; metal
Stirred gas, fixed bed Stirred batch microreactor, 1 g catalyst, glass or met.
Batch recycle microreactor, 1 g catalyst, glass or met.
Berty bench-scale, 2-200 g cat., 10-100 atm, stainless
Carberry steel, circulating gas
bench-scale, 2-200 g cat., 10-100 atm, stainless
steel, spinning catalyst basket
Stirred liquid/gas, Stirred batch bench-scale, 2-50 g cat., 1-200 atm, glass or
stirred catalyst Bubble slurry metal heterogeneous or homogeneous catalyst

Fluid bed Laboratory microreactor, 1-5 g cat, 1 atm, glass bench-

Bench-scale transport scale, 50-200 g catal, 1-10 atm, metal
Recirculating transport

Fixed bed, transient Pulse flow microreactor, 0.1-1 g catalyst, glass or metal, 1
gas flow TPD/TPSR atm
Radio tracer exchange
MS/Transient response
Frequency response
10/30 female joint

10/30 male joint

9 mm O-ring joint

4 ft. preheater coil of

2 mm capillary tubing
Thermocouple guide of
2mm capillary tubing
7"

Figure Laboratory Pyrex

FBR reactor (courtesy of the
BYU Catalysis Laboratory).
Catalyst space

Fritted disc
Gas-Liquid CSTR (UCSB) Batch Reactor (UCSB)
Bench scale reactor
(courtesy of Shell Corp.)
Laboratory and Bench Scale Reactors

Criteria for selection of lab and bench-

scale reactors; applications
1. Satisfying intended application
2. Avoiding deactivation
3. Avoiding inter- and intra- particle heat and mass transport
limitations
4. Minimizing temperature and concentration gradients
5. Maintaining ideal flow patterns
6. Maximizing the accuracy of concentration and temperature
measurements
7. Minimizing construction and operating costs
Table 2. Seven Criteria for Selection of Laboratory and Bench-Scale Catalytic
Reactors
Criterion
1. Satisfy purpose of measurement (i.e.,
application)
2. Avoid catalyst deactivation where
possible; where not, decide if fast or
slow
3. Avoid inter- and intra-particle heat
and mass transport limitations
4. Minimize temperature and
concentration gradients
5. Maintain ideal flow patterns
6. Maximize accuracy of concentration
and temperature measurements
7. Minimize construction and
operating costs
Issues Involved/Measures of/Methods to Meet Criterion
Measure: (1) intrinsic activity/selectivity, (2) kinetics of reaction and
deactivation
Obtain mechanistic understanding
Simulate process
Fast decay causes activity and selectivity disguises and requires use of
transient or transport reactor . Slow decay best studied using CSTR or
differential reactor
Thiele modulus less than 0.5; small particles or thin catalyst layer
Minimize film thickness with high flow rates, turbulence
Operate at low conversions
Use CSTR or differential reactor
Gradients cause activity and selectivity disguises
Maximize mixing in batch reactor and CSTR; use inerts
Use CSTR or differential reactor where possible
Minimize mixing and laminar flow in tubular reactors;
Maximize mixing and minimize gradients in CSTR
Avoid gas or liquid holdup in multi-phase reaction systems
Sensitive analytical methods and well-placed, sensitive probes
Sufficiently high product concentrations
Select the least expensive reactor that will satisfy the other criteria
Consider ways of minimizing size of catalyst and volume of reactant gas
Table 1.4 Applications of Lab/Bench Test Reactors
Reactor Type Catalyst Selection Reactor/Design Fundamental Process
Activity/Selectivity Mechanism Simulation
Life Kinetics
Integral
Adiabatic X (overall avg. conv.) X X
Isothermal X (overall conv. at T) X X
Differential
Single Pass X (intrinsic) X (intrinsic) X (eliminate)
Recycle X (intrinsic) X (intrinsic) X (eliminate)
Stirred gas X (intrinsic) X (kinetics) X (intrinsic) X (eliminate) X (model)
Fluid bed/ X (fast deact.) X (fast deact.) X (fast X
Transport deact.)
Micro-pulse X (comparative, initial) X
Transient X (elem. X X (model)
steps)
Common Types of Catalytic Plant Reactors

1.Fixed-bed Reactors
a. Packed beds of pellet or monoliths
b. Multi-tubular reactors with cooling
c. Slow-moving pellet beds
d. Three-phase trickle bed reactors

2.Fluid-bed and Slurry Reactors

a. “Stationary” gas-phase
b. Gas-phase
c. Liquid-phase
i. Slurry
ii. Bubble Column
iii. Ebulating bed
Fixed bed reactor
A heterogeneous catalyst is used
frequently in industry where gases flow
through a solid catalyst (which is often
in t of small pellets to increase the
surface area). It is often described as a
fixed bed of catalyst (Figure 5).
Among the examples of their use are the
manufacture of sulfuric acid (the
Contact Process, with vanadium(V) oxide
catalyst), the manufacure of nitric acid
and the manufacture of ammonia (the
Haber Process, with iron as the cataly
 a.. Reactants Inlet

Liquid Or
Feed Gaseous
Bath

Reactor Reactor
Inert balls Tube Tube

Catalyst
Gas Or
Liquid
Flow

Outlet
Product

Product

Figure Commercial fixed-

bed, adiabatic catalytic
reactor.
Figure Commercial fixed-bed reactor designs for controlling
temperature: (a) multi-tubular heat-exchange reactor, (b)
series of fixed-bed, adiabatic reactors with interstage
heating or cooling.
 Fixed bed reactor – cont’d

• The fixed bed or packed bed reactors are most

commonly used for study of solid catalyst.

• A fixed bed reactor usually consists of a

cylindrical vessel packed with catalyst pellets and
easy to design and operate.

• The metal support grid and screen is placed near

the bottom to support the catalyst.

• Inert ceramic balls are placed above the catalyst

bed to distribute the feed evenly.

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• Advantages of packed bed or fixed bed reactor include ideal
plug flow behaviour, lower maintenance cost and reduced loss
due to attrition and wear.

• Heat management is very important aspect for design of fixed

bed reactor. Poor heat distribution may result in non uniform
reaction rates and consequently low reactant conversion. Poor
heat transfer may also result in generation of hot spots and
thermal degradation of catalyst.

• However, the situations are observed more in large fixed bed

and for highly exothermic or endothermic reactions when
temperature control is difficult.

• The regeneration or replacement of catalyst is also difficult in

fixed bed reactors and process needs to be shutdown.

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 • Another major disadvantage of packed bed reactor is
plugging of bed due to coke deposition which results in
high pressure drop.

• High pressure drop is also observed for small beads or

pellets of catalysts. However, increase in pellet size
increases the pore diffusion limitation.

• Catalyst pellet sizes are usually in the range of 1 to 10

mm. Non-uniform packing of catalysts can cause
channeling of fluids leading to poor heat and mass
transfer.

• The column to particle diameter is maintained in between

10 to 20 to minimize channeling. The bed voidage is usually
70 to 90 %.

@HakCipta Dr Rusnah Samsuddin CMT674

 • Plug flow behaviour is ensured by maintaining ratio of
reactor length to catalyst particle diameter greater than
50.

• The allowed pressure drop is less than 0.5 inch water per
foot of bed depth. Usually the ratio of bed height to
diameter is maintained greater than 0.5.

• For better heat management for very highly exothermic

(or endothermic) reaction the multitubular reactor is used
with catalyst packed inside the tubes.

• The cooling (or heating) fluid flows through the shell side.
The length is limited by allowable pressure drop.

• The multitubular reactor has high surface area for heat

transfer per unit volume. For determination of heat
transfer and mass transfer properties several
correlations are available in literature.
@HakCipta Dr Rusnah Samsuddin CMT674
Table Characteristics of Plant-Scale Fixed Bed
Reactors
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Ideal plug (or mixed) flow 1. Poor heat transfer in a large fixed bed.
2. Simple analysis a. Temp. control and measurement difficult
3. Low cost, low maintenance b. Thermal catalyst degradation
4. Little loss or attrition c. Non uniform rates.
5. Greater variation in operating conditions and 2. Non uniform flow patterns e.g. channeling
contact times is possible 3. Swelling of the catalyst; deformation of the
6. Usually a high ratio of catalyst to reactants reactor
long residence time complete reaction 4. Regeneration or replacement of the catalyst
7 Little wear on catalyst and equipment is difficult - shut down is required.
8. Only practical, economical reactor at very 5. Plugging, high pressure drop for small beads
high pressures or pellets - ∆P is very expensive.
6. Pore diffusional problems intrude in large
pellets
Overcoming the Disadvantages
1. Monolithic supports overcome disadvantages 2, 5 & 6
2. Temperature control problems are overcome with:
a. Recycle
b. Internal and external heat exchanges
c. Staged reactors
d. Cold shot cooling
e. Multiple tray reactor - fluid redistributed & cooled between stages.
Catalyst is easily removed - varied from tray to tray.
f. Use of diluents
g. Temperature self regulation with competing reactions, one endo and one exothermic.
h. Temp control by selectivity and temporarily poisoning the catalyst
Packed Bed Reactor
Packed Bed Reactor in use for a
Fisher-Tropsch synthesis reaction
at Sasol Limited Chemical.

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 Fluidized bed reactors

•In fluidized bed reactor catalyst pellets of average size

less than 0.1 mm are fluidized by the reactant fluid.

•The linear velocity is maintained above the minimum

fluidization velocity required to obtain the fluidized bed.

•As the superficial velocity increases, the bed expands and

become increasingly dilute.

•At high enough linear velocity, the smallest catalyst

particles escape from the bed and have to be separated
from exhaust gases and recycled.

•In fluidized bed, heat transfer is much better resulting in

more uniform temperature compared to packed bed reactor.

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Fluid bed reactor
• Frequent regeneration of catalyst can be done without
any shutdown of the process.

• However, fluidized bed is a complicated system to operate

and requires extensive investments and high operating and
maintenance cost.

• Other major disadvantages are attrition and loss of

catalysts due to fluidized condition.

• Modelling of fluidized bed flow is complex. The fluidized

bed is assumed to consist of bubble and emulsion phases
which can be modelled respectively by plug flow and CSTR,
as the emulsion phase is assumed to be well mixed.

• Correlation for heat and mass transports are available in

literature. The reactor is extensively used for catalytic
cracking process.
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Multiphase reactors

Slurry reactors

•The slurry reactors: carried out in two–phase or three

–phase.

• In three –phase reactor, gas and liquid reactants are

brought into contact with solid catalyst particles.

• In two–phase reactor, fluid phase is usually liquid

reactant in contact with the solid catalyst.

•The reaction of gaseous reactant with catalyst is

usually carried out in fixed bed reactor.

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• In three –phase slurry reactor:
– the gaseous reactant and solid catalysts are dispersed in
continuous liquid phase by mechanical agitation, e.g,
stirrer.

• To ensures uniformity composition throughout the

reactor.

• Application;
– hydrogenation, oxidation, halogenations and fermentation
process.

• The advantage:
– isothermal operation and
– good heat and mass transfers.

• The reactors can be operated in batch, semi batch

or continuous mode.

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• In three – phase system bubbles of gas rise through agitated slurry.

• In hydrogenation of oil with nickel catalyst, the solid content is 0.5

vol. %. Hydrogenation of oils is carried out in slurry of nickel
catalyst particles.

• Industrial hydrogenation reactors are usually of the size in the

range of 500-200 L, pressure of 200 atm and temperature of
350°C.

• The reactors are equipped with internal agitator, gas inlet, facility
for insitu sampling and heater or cooler for temperature control.

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Figure Liquid-phase slurry reactors: (a) forced-circulation,
slurry-bed reactor, (b) bubble-column, slurry-bed reactor.
Figure Batch-slurry reactor for hydrogenation
of specialty chemicals.
Figure Design of typical fluid catalytic
cracker (FCC) transfer-line (riser) reactor
with fluidized-bed regenerator.
 a. Products b. Products
Flue gas
Cyclone Riser
reactor Cyclone
Flue Reactor
gas
Catalyst Catalyst stripper
Regenerator stripper
Overflow Steam
well Steam
Regenerator
Reactor
feed

Air
Steam Air
Reactor
feed

Figure Commercial FCC riser reaction designs (a) Exxon, (b)

Universal Oil Product (UOP) (e.g., Honeywell).
Fluid Cat Cracker (Chevron) Stacked Fluid Cat Cracker (UOP)
Shell Cat-Cracker All-riser Cracking FCC Unit
Carberry reactor or Berty reactor

Figure 1.4 Berty internal recycle reactor.

•For catalytic investigations, reactors equipped with rotating

basket or fixed basket with internal circulation can be used.

•These CSTR type reactors are used to minimize the inherent

mass and heat transfer limitations observed in fixed-bed
reactors.

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• These reactors are frequently used in industry to evaluate
reaction mechanism and reaction kinetics.

• The main feature of the Carberry reactor is that the catalyst

particles are contained in a spinning basket or embedded in the
blades of a spinning agitator

• The mounted catalyst is rapidly rotated resulting in good

mixing between reactants in fluid phase and the solid catalyst.
• This minimizes the mass
transfer and heat transfer
resistances. The basket or
impellers can spin up to 2,500
rpm.

• The Berty reactor uses an

internal recycling to achieve
perfectly mixed behavior.

• The catalyst is contained in a

fixed bed basket through which
the reacting gases circulate. .

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• The catalyst basket is equipped with
large diameter impellers rotated in
order to circulate gases & liquids
past solid catalysts

• An internal recirculation rate of 10

to 15 times of the feed rate
effectively eliminates external
diffusion resistance and
temperature gradient.

• Retaining the solid catalyst in a

spinning woven wire mesh basket
allows gas / liquid circulation with low
pressure drop.

• Circulating the reactants past the

catalyst minimize wearing &
breakage.
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Table
Characteristics of Plant-Scale Fluidized and Slurry Bed
Reactors
Advantages
1. Frequent regeneration of the
catalyst possible.
2. Rapid mixing of solids in fluid beds
means uniform gas composition.
3. Isothermal operation and efficient
temperature control is practical.
4. Small-diameter particles in fluid
minimize pore diffusional resistance.
5. Improved thermal efficiency
because of high heat transfer rates.
6. In the case of highly exothermic,
liquid phase reactions, slurry
reactors are less complex and less
expensive than heat-exchange-
tubular systems.
Disadvantages
1. Fluidized beds are complicated
systems involving multiple reactors,
heat exchangers, extensive valving and
piping to provide continuous system.
2. $$ Extensive investment.
Maintenance is high.
3. Fluid flow is complex in fluidized and
slurry bubble columns - less than ideal
contacting. Product distribution is
changed - less intermediate formed in
a series reaction.
4. Only a small variation in residence
time possible. Low residence times.
Conversion may be limited.
5. Attrition & loss of Catalyst.
 Moving Bed Reactor
disengager
boiler regenerator Distillation tower

a moving bed of catalyst

flows downward in an annulus
made up of permeable walls
through which the gaseous
reactant enters and the
gaseous product leaves.

The cracker is used for the

catalytic cracking of gas oil
into light aromatics and
straight chain hydrocarbons,
The white unit to the left of the cat cracker is the catalyst which are then separated in
regenerator,where coke deposits are burned off the the distillation tower to the
catalyst. This is a highly exothermic operation, (1400°F), right of the photo.
and so the boiler unit at the far left recovers the sensible
heat of the regenerator exhaust to produce steam.

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Stacked Stacked reactor platform, which

CSTRs (in this case) is a set of four

reactors in series. The reactors
are stacked on top of one another
to minimize the amount of ground
space required for the reactors.

The furnace at the left of the

photo is used to heat the initial
feed material to around 1000°F.

Due to endothermic reaction, the

material cools as it passes through
each reactor, and must be re-
heated back up to proper reaction
temperature between each pair of
reactors.

The large silver (insulated) pipes on

the left side of the reactors
transport material through the
furnace between each pair of
reactors

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Trickled bed reactors

•Another variation of packed bed reactor

•In trickled bed reactor gaseous and liquid

reactants flow co-currently downward over a
packed bed of solid catalyst particles.

•The liquid is distributed across the reactor

cross section by a distributor plate.

•The gas enters at the top and distributed along

with the liquid.

•The liquid flows downward by gravity and drag

of the gas. For low liquid flow rates and low to
moderate gas flow rates, the gas phase is
continuous with liquid trickling down forming film
over the solid catalyst.

•The thickness of the liquid film has been

• Commonly use for
estimated to vary between 0.01 and 0.2 mm.
hydrogenation and
hydrodesulfurization
reactions.
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• Advantages:
– Higher conversion than slurry
reactors
– ease of installation,
– minimal catalyst handling and
– low catalyst attrition as in packed
bed reactor.

• Disadvantages:
– maldistribution of flow resulting in
channeling or bypassing,
– possibility of non uniformity in
packing,
– incomplete contacting or wetting and
– intraparticle diffusion resistance.

• Catalyst bed depth is limited by

pressure drop, catalyst crush
strength and maximum adiabatic
temperature increase for stable
operation.

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The reactor length to diameter ratio can vary between 1 and
10 depending on the allowable pressure drop.

➢Other parameters important for trickled bed include;

➢ void fraction of bed,
➢ holdup for phases,
➢ wetting efficiency (fraction of catalyst wetted by liquid),
➢ gas – liquid mass transfer coefficient,
➢ liquid–solid mass transfer coefficient,
➢ liquid and gas mixing,
➢ pressure drop, and
➢ heat transfer coefficients.

The wetting efficiency of the catalyst is important for

reaction rate and increases with increasing liquid rate.

The trickle bed reactor is most commonly used for

hydrogenation and hydrodesulfurization reactions.

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Bioreactors
• A reactor support the biological active
environment.

• The catalyst use is live cells or enzymes to

perform the biochemical reactions.

• Limited by the conditions favorable for the

biological systems. E.g., Most living cells can
tolerate only mild conditions of temperature and
pH.

• Need to control temperature, pH or any

contamination.

• Have two phases; liquid-solid as in anaerobic

process or three phases, gas, liquid and solid as in
aerobic process.

• E.g., solid phases are bacteria, fungi, algae etc.,

serves a catalyst

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• Can also be used in immobilized
form in which cells are trapped
within solid or semi solid
structure such as porous
particles or gel.

• Medium: mostly water with

dissolves the feed and products.

• In aerobic bioreactor the gas

phase consists of primarily air
and product gas CO2.

• Mainly operated in batch or semi

batch mode allowing better
control of process parameters.

• Application: wastewater
treatment, lactic acid
production, production of human
insulin etc.
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Staged Reactors
Amoco hydrotreaters.

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Collecting, Analyzing and Reporting Data from
Laboratory Reactors

Different purposes:
1. activity/selectivity and life data for catalyst selection
2. chemical reaction mechanistic and kinetic data for
understanding the reaction at a fundamental level,
modeling the reaction process, and/or designing reactors
3. process variable data over a wide range of conditions for
purposes of designing large-scale reactors, experimentally
validating models and optimizing the catalytic process.
 Data collection typically involves three major steps:
1. selection of a reaction and catalyst
2. selection of a reactor type
3. analysis of the data

new experiments

Select Select reactor

and conditions Data Analysis
Reaction
and Criteria Batch Data mechanism
Catalyst Flow Integral rate expression
CSTR Differential process optimization
Plug - integral Initial Rates
or differential

Figure Process of obtaining rate and kinetic data; note that statistical
methods are used in Steps 2 and 3 and in the recycle process.
CATALYTIC CYCLE
 Steps in a Catalytic Reaction
A B

1. Adsorption on Surface

Surface Reaction;

Single Site Dual Site

2. Desorption from Surface

@HakCipta Dr Rusnah Samsuddin CMT674

 Steps in a Catalytic Reaction

1. Adsorption on Surface

Surface Reaction;

Eley Rideal Site Dual Site

2. Desorption from Surface

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CATALYTIC CYCLE