Catalysts, general pellets

The benefits of nonuniform activity distributions (site density) or diffusive properties (porosity, tortuosity) within pellets on the rate of catalytic reactions were first suggested theoretically by Kasaoka and Sakata (Ml). This proposal followed the pioneering experimental work of Maatman and Prater (142). Models of nonuniform catalyst pellets were later extended to more general pellet geometries and activity profiles (143), and applied to specific catalytic reactions, such as SO2 and naphthalene oxidation (144-146). Previous experimental and theoretical studies were recently discussed in an excellent review by Lee and Aris (147). Proposed applications in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysis have also been recently reported (50-55,148), but the general concepts have been widely discussed and broadly applied in automotive exhaust and selective hydrogenation catalysis (142,147,149). 

This phenomenon is the same for ail types of geometric shapes of catalysts, monoliths, pellets or nets, In a monolith the mass transfer, between gas bulk and the outer surface of catalyst, is not particular good since the flow, at least in the boundary layers, tends to become laminar, but the pressure drop is low. In a packed bed with pellets the mass transfer is very good in general, but the pressure drop is high. A stack of nets, however, combine good mass transfer and low pressure drop, it is in between a monolith and a packed bed. 

Catalytic materials for MRs have some particular requirements compared to a conventional tube flow reactor. The catalytic material should be in a form that can be inserted easily into the membrane reactor, and the catalyst should not have any mechanical failure or properties which are not suitable for a MR. Very hne powder form catalysts cannot be used, as the small particulates may block the pores of the membrane however, small particulates (>0.2 mm) have been considered (e.g., Li et al., 2010). Thus, in many cases, the catalysts generally used in MRs are pellets, extrudates or tablets. In addition to these forms, novel hbre type or foam catalysts have been studied as support materials for active metals. Li et al., (2010) have presented in their study one kind of a method of encapsulating the catalyst particles (diameter 0.2-1.7 mm) which combines a catalyst particulate with a membrane layer. This has been reported to increase the selectivity of the reaction, and thus the separation process is much easier. 

We see, then, that pressure gradients must necessarily exist in catalyst pellets to free the fluxes from the constraints Imposed by Graham s relation (11,42), or Its generalization = 0 in multicomponent systems. Without this freedom the fluxes are unable to adjust to the demands... 

Use of the peUetted converter, developed and used by General Motors starting in 1975, has declined since 1980. The advantage of the peUetted converter, which consists of a packed bed of small spherical beads about 3 mm in diameter, is that the pellets were less cosdy to manufacture than the monolithic honeycomb. Disadvantages were the peUetted converter had 2 to 3 times more weight and volume, took longer to heat up, and was more susceptible to attrition and loss of catalyst in use. The monolithic honeycomb can be mounted in any orientation, whereas the peUetted converter had to be downflow. AdditionaUy, the pressure drop of the monolithic honeycomb is one-half to one-quarter that of a similar function peUetted converter. 

The term porosity refers to the fraction of the medium that contains the voids. When a fluid is passed over the medium, the fraction of the medium (i.e., the pores) that contributes to the flow is referred to as the effective porosity of the media. In a general sense, porous media are classified as either unconsolidated and consolidated and/or as ordered and random. Examples of unconsolidated media are sand, glass beads, catalyst pellets, column packing materials, soil, gravel and packing such as charcoal. 

General. The flame-sprayed Raney nickel catalyst was used in exexperiments HGR-10, HGR-12, and HGR-14, the pelleted precipitated catalyst in experiment HGR-13. Reactor conditions as a function of... 

The primary consideration for all AEM analysis is that the specimen be thin (generally carbon coated electron microscope grid either dry or in a suitable liquid. If a liquid suspension is used in preparing the specimen, it is important that all elements of interest are insoluble in that liquid. Only particles thin enough to meet AEM thin-film criteria (15) should be analyzed quantitatively. Scraping surface particles from a catalyst pellet for specimen preparation may be more useful than grinding the entire pellet. 

Trickle Bed Reactors (2). A trickle bed reactor utilizes a fixed bed over which liquid flows without filling the void spaces between particles. The liquid usually flows downward under the influence of gravity, while the gas flows upward or downward through the void spaces amid the catalyst pellets and the liquid holdup. Generally cocurrent downward flow of liquid and gas is preferred because it facilitates... 

Bulk or forced flow of the Hagan-Poiseuille type does not in general contribute significantly to the mass transport process in porous catalysts. For fast reactions where there is a change in the number of moles on reaction, significant pressure differentials can arise between the interior and the exterior of the catalyst pellets. This phenomenon occurs because there is insufficient driving force for effective mass transfer by forced flow. Molecular diffusion occurs much more rapidly than forced flow in most porous catalysts. 

Comparing these results, what general conclusions can be deduced concerning the selective formation of B on large and small catalyst pellets ... 

Vayenas, C. G. and S. Pavlou. 1987a. Optimal catalyst distribution and generalized effectiveness factors in pellets single reactions with arbitrary kinetics. Chem. Eng. Sci. 42(11) 2633-2645. 

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