Mass and Heat Transfer in Solid Catalyst Bed

Abstract

In heterogeneous catalysis much effort is put into the determination of the reaction kinetics. The primary of the kinetic research is either to be able to optimize the design of a reactor or to gain more insight on the fundamentals of a reaction. Since heterogeneous catalysis involves, by definition, at least two phases, exchange of heat and mass between the phases is required for the reaction to take place. Due to these transport phenomena, the observed rate at which the reaction takes place is not necessarily the same as its intrinsic rate, i.e. the unique rate for a given catalyst at given conditions. Thus, when investigating the reaction kinetics in a laboratory-scale catalytic reactor, one has to account for the factors that may generate a resistance to the reaction and that disguise the intrinsic kinetics. In solid catalyst beds heat and mass transfer presented by equations for the prediction of convective heat transfer, pressure drop, effective thermal conductivity and wall heat transfer whereas under the conditions of radiant heat transfer may be neglected. It having various applications in fluidized beds, packed beds, trickle beds, magnetically stabilized beds etc.

Keywords: Heterogeneous Catalysis, Mass Transfer, Heat Transfer, Catalyst Bed.