Catalyst heat capacity

Heat capacities of reactants and products are equal and constant in each vessel. Catalyst heat capacity is also constant. 

Figure 6.36 shows the window that opens when Dynamics is selected under the reactor block. The amount of catalyst, the catalyst heat capacity, and the heat transfer coefficient between the process gas and the catalyst are specified. 

Any variable or parameter that influences kinetics can be used if well-defined perturbation can be achieved. Temperature was the early favorite in kinetic studies, but in catalysis the heat capacity of the catalyst makes the response for temperature changes very sluggish. A sudden change in one or more of the product or reactant concentrations can be executed faster and usually gives a better response signal. 

Similar approaches are applicable in the chemical industry. For example, maleic anhydride is manufactured by partial oxidation of benzene in a fixed catalyst bed tubular reactor. There is a potential for extremely high temperatures due to thermal runaway if feed ratios are not maintained within safe limits. Catalyst geometry, heat capacity, and partial catalyst deactivation have been used to create a self-regulatory mechanism to prevent excessive temperature (Raghaven, 1992). 

In this book we have decided to concentrate on purely synthetic applications of ionic liquids, just to keep the amount of material to a manageable level. FFowever, we think that synthetic and non-synthetic applications (and the people doing research in these areas) should not be treated separately for a number of reasons. Each area can profit from developments made in the other field, especially concerning the availability of physicochemical data and practical experience of development of technical processes using ionic liquids. In fact, in all production-scale chemical reactions some typically non-synthetic aspects (such as the heat capacity of the ionic liquid or product extraction from the ionic catalyst layer) have to be considered anyway. The most important reason for close collaboration by synthetic and non-synthetic scientists in the field of ionic liquid research is, however, the fact that in both areas an increase in the understanding of the ionic liquid material is the key factor for successful future development. 

Figure 5-6. Heat capacity of the FCC catalysl as a Sunctron of loo catalyst s alumina content.

Catalysts such as charcoal can be used to maintain the equilibrium ratio of ortho-hydrogen to para-hydrogen with decreasing temperature.1 When this happens, heat capacity measurements give the equilibrium value for the entropy of hydrogen. 

In the model equations, A represents the cross sectional area of reactor, a is the mole fraction of combustor fuel gas, C is the molar concentration of component gas, Cp the heat capacity of insulation and F is the molar flow rate of feed. The AH denotes the heat of reaction, L is the reactor length, P is the reactor pressure, R is the gas constant, T represents the temperature of gas, U is the overall heat transfer coefficient, v represents velocity of gas, W is the reactor width, and z denotes the reactor distance from the inlet. The Greek letters, e is the void fraction of catalyst bed, p the molar density of gas, and rj is the stoichiometric coefficient of reaction. The subscript, c, cat, r, b and a represent the combustor, catalyst, reformer, the insulation, and ambient, respectively. The obtained PDE model is solved using Finite Difference Method (FDM). 

When ATad < 30°C, heat recuperation is important. The outlet switching temperature will be low so the reaction contribution of the inlet and outlet regions is small. In this situation, inert packing with high heat capacity and low porosity can be used in place of catalyst. The variant is shown in Fig. 7. 

It was subsequently shown that the presence of a catalyst accelerates the attainment of the ortho-para equilibrium. Measurements of properties such as the heat capacity and the thermal conductivity as a function of temperature then indicate that an equilibrium between the two species has been established. 

It must be noted that the heat capacity of the calorimeter cell and of its contents p, which appears in the second term of Tian s equation [Eq. (12)], disappears from the final expression giving the total heat [Eq. (19)]. This simply means that all the heat produced in the calorimeter cell must eventually be evacuated to the heat sink, whatever the heat capacity of the inner cell may be. Changes of the heat capacity of the inner cell or of its contents influence the shape of the thermogram but not the area limited by the thermogram. It is for this reason that heat-flow microcalorimeters, with a high sensitivity, are particularly convenient for investigating adsorption processes at the surface of poor heat-conducting solids similar in this respect to most industrial catalysts. 

In catalysis applications, the tunable solvent properties result in a variety of effects, such as controllable component and catalyst solubilities. Moreover, it is possible that kinetic rates are affected by both temperature and pressure effects, equilibrium constants are shifted in favor of the desired products, and selectivity and yields are increased by manipulating the solvent s dielectric constant or by controlling the temperature in highly exothermic reactions through an adjustment of the solvent s heat capacity [18-23]. 

Transient simulations using the full, nonlinear model show that under the conditions studied concentration profiles reach a quasi steady state quite rapidly (often within 3 to 5 sec), whereas the thermal response of the reactor bed is much slower22 due to the large heat capacity of the reactor bed and thermal well. An example of this phenomenon is shown in Fig. 18, where the transient responses of the solid temperatures, thermal well temperatures, and concentrations are shown for a major step change in the inlet gas temperature and inlet CO concentration. In this example, the effect of the step change is nearly immediate on the concentration profiles, with the major effect being within the first 10 sec. However, Fig. 18a shows that the thermal well temperatures and the catalyst temperatures take up to 10 times as long as the... 

Trickle-bed reactors are often employed in highly exothermic reactions such as the hydrogenation of unsaturated hydrocarbons. However, they exhibit poor capability of removing the excess heat of the reaction. Since the gas has low heat capacity, the liquid is responsible for removing this heat. If the generated heat is not adequately removed, hot spots may be created. These hot spots may lead to sintering of catalyst particles, with an... 

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