Lecture 4: Packed

Bed Reactors
 Packed bed reactors, also known as fixed bed reactors, are
often used for catalytic processes.

Pictured below is a fixed bed reactor used in a synthetic

process.

Pictured below is a packed bed reactor used in the NASA

Glenn Research Center.

The experiment is designed to develop packed bed

reactors for microgravity environments by studying fluid
flow through porous media in microgravity.

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 General Information
Packed bed reactors consist of a cylindrical shell
with convex heads.

Most are vertical and allow reactants to flow by

gravity. Inside the reactor is an immobilized, or
fixed, bed of catalyst.

Packed bed reactors are heterogeneous reaction

systems. The picture below shows an apparatus
used to study flow through a packed column.

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 Equipment Design
The reactants enter the reactor on the top, then
flow through.

Upon entering the reactor the reactants flow

through the packed bed of catalyst. By contacting
with the catalyst pellets, the reactants react to form
products, which then exit the reactor on the
bottom.

Note the concentration gradient within the reactor.

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 When designing a packed bed reactor one must take into
account the active life of the catalyst. This will affect the
length of time a bed of catalyst may be used and thus how
long the reactor may be run before the catalyst needs to be
regenerated.
Catalyst pellets are usually granular, with diameters from 1 –
5 mm. They can be loaded into the reactor in several ways:
as a single bed, separate shells, or in tubes. Catalysts are
typically made from nickel, copper, osmium, platinum, and
rhodium. The catalysts shown below are made of precious
metal on 3.175 mm ceramic beads and are used in an electric
catalytic oxidizer that treats air streams contaminated with
volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

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 Usage Examples
Packed bed reactors have a wide range of uses for
catalytic reactions.

They are also widely used in small-scale commercial

reactions.

They are used by soil scientists to test cost-effective

methods of removing ammonia from livestock
wastewater.

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 Advantages
•High conversion rate per weight of catalyst.
•Easy to build.
•More contact between reactant and catalyst than in other
types of reactors.
•More product is formed due to increased reactant/catalyst
contact.
•Low cost of construction, operation, and maintenance.
•Effective at high temperatures and pressures.

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 Disadvantages
•Difficult temperature control.
•Temperature gradients may occur.
•Catalyst difficult to replace.
•Channeling of gas stream can occur, leading to
ineffective regions in the reactor.
•Side reactions possible.
•Heat transfer to or from reactor can be difficult.

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