Kinetic modeling overall reaction kinetics

Table 10.4 lists the rate parameters for the elementary steps of the CO + NO reaction in the limit of zero coverage. Parameters such as those listed in Tab. 10.4 form the highly desirable input for modeling overall reaction mechanisms. In addition, elementary rate parameters can be compared to calculations on the basis of the theories outlined in Chapters 3 and 6. In this way the kinetic parameters of elementary reaction steps provide, through spectroscopy and computational chemistry, a link between the intramolecular properties of adsorbed reactants and their reactivity Statistical thermodynamics furnishes the theoretical framework to describe how equilibrium constants and reaction rate constants depend on the partition functions of vibration and rotation. Thus, spectroscopy studies of adsorbed reactants and intermediates provide the input for computing equilibrium constants, while calculations on the transition states of reaction pathways, starting from structurally, electronically and vibrationally well-characterized ground states, enable the prediction of kinetic parameters. 

Fiery1 252-254) studied only the last stage of the reactions, i.e. when the concentration of reactive end groups has been greatly decreased and when the dielectric properties of the medium (ester or polyester) no longer change with conversion. Under these conditions, he showed that the overall reaction order relative to various model esterifications and polyesterifications is 3. As a general rule, it is accepted that the order with respect to acid is two which means that the add behaves both as reactant and as catalyst. However, the only way to determine experimentally reaction orders with respect to add and alcohol would be to carry out kinetic studies on non-stoichiometric systems. 

In this section, only those studies, all of relatively recent date, that particularly emphasize the determination of rate-determining process steps and the application of the relatively advanced theoretical models discussed in Section IV will be reviewed. For earlier studies of overall reaction kinetics, the reader is referred to the publications of Hall et al. (HI) and Kolbel (K6). 

Measurements of overall reaction rates (of product formation or of reactant consumption) do not necessarily provide sufficient information to describe completely and unambiguously the kinetics of the constituent steps of a composite rate process. A nucleation and growth reaction, for example, is composed of the interlinked but distinct and different changes which lead to the initial generation and to the subsequent advance of the reaction interface. Quantitative kinetic analysis of yield—time data does not always lead to a unique reaction model but, in favourable systems, the rate parameters, considered with reference to quantitative microscopic measurements, can be identified with specific nucleation and growth steps. Microscopic examinations provide positive evidence for interpretation of shapes of fractional decomposition (a)—time curves. In reactions of solids, it is often convenient to consider separately the geometry of interface development and the chemical changes which occur within that zone of locally enhanced reactivity. 

Once the kinetic parameters of elementary steps, as well as thermodynamic quantities such as heats of adsorption (Chapter 6), are available one can construct a micro-kinetic model to describe the overall reaction. Otherwise, one has to rely on fitting a rate expression that is based on an assumed reaction mechanism. Examples of both cases are discussed this chapter. 

The first step in constructing a micro-kinetic model is to identify all the elementary reaction steps that may be involved in the catalytic process we want to describe, in this case the synthesis of ammonia. The overall reaction is... 

The voltammograms at the microhole-supported ITIES were analyzed using the Tomes criterion [34], which predicts ii3/4 — iii/4l = 56.4/n mV (where n is the number of electrons transferred and E- i and 1/4 refer to the three-quarter and one-quarter potentials, respectively) for a reversible ET reaction. An attempt was made to use the deviations from the reversible behavior to estimate kinetic parameters using the method previously developed for UMEs [21,27]. However, the shape of measured voltammograms was imperfect, and the slope of the semilogarithmic plot observed was much lower than expected from the theory. It was concluded that voltammetry at micro-ITIES is not suitable for ET kinetic measurements because of insufficient accuracy and repeatability [16]. Those experiments may have been affected by reactions involving the supporting electrolytes, ion transfers, and interfacial precipitation. It is also possible that the data was at variance with the Butler-Volmer model because the overall reaction rate was only weakly potential-dependent [35] and/or limited by the precursor complex formation at the interface [33b]. 

In the quantitative development in Section 24.4 below, we assume the flow to be ideal, but more elaborate models are available for nonideal flow (Chapter 19 see also Kastanek et al., 1993, Chapter 5). Examples of types of tower reactors are illustrated schematically in Figure 24.1, and are discussed more fully below. An important consideration for the efficiency of gas-liquid contact is whether one phase (gas or liquid) is dispersed in the other as a continuous phase, or whether both phases are continuous. This is related to, and may be determined by, features of the overall reaction kinetics, such as rate-determining characteristics of mass transfer and intrinsic reaction. 

Metal ions play an important role as catalysts in many autoxidation reactions and have been considered instrumental in regulating natural as well as industrial processes. In these reactive systems, in particular when the reactions occur under environmental or in vivo biochemical conditions, the metal ions are involved in complicated interactions with the substrate(s) and dioxygen, and the properties of the actual matrix as well as the transport processes also have a pronounced impact on the overall reactions. In most cases, handling and analyzing such a complexity is beyond the capacity of currently available experimental, computational and theoretical methods, and researchers in this field are obliged to use simplified sub-systems to mimic the complex phenomena. When the simplified conditions are properly chosen, these studies provide surprisingly accurate predictions for the real systems. In this paper we review the results obtained in kinetic and mechanistic studies on the model systems, but we do not discuss their broad biological or environmental implications. 

Finally, one has to concede that gas-phase calculations are not the ideal way to model a reaction taking place on a catalyst surface. Computational chemistry developments in this area have been continuing but they are a long way from providing completely realistic models. For example, the overall kinetics for dehydrocyclizations are likely to be rate-limited by the binding of the alkane substrate to catalytically active sites. 

The kinetic model for proton transfer based upon transition state theory that incorporates a tunneling contribution to the overall reaction rate assumes that tunneling occurs near the region of the transition state (pathway a in Scheme 2.5). There is, however, another possibility for the reaction path for proton transfer. In lieu of thermally activating the vibration associated with the proton-transfer coordinate to bring it into the region of the transition state, the proton may instead... 

Many publications have appeared on the kinetics of transesterification, dealing with either PET or model compounds. A selection of these papers is summarized in Table 2.5. The overall reaction order of polycondensation is 3, being 1 each for ester, alcohol, and catalyst [43], The reaction rate of poly condensation is generally limited by the rate of removal of EG from the reaction mixture. A... 

In some instances, one of these processes is much slower than the others, and the kinetics of the overall reaction is governed by its rate law. In these cases the kinetic data will fit simpler models describing the rate-determining step. When... 

Figure 14. Simple model demonstrating how adsorption and surface diffusion can co-Urnit overall reaction kinetics, as explained in the text, (a) A semi-infinite surface establishes a uniform surface coverage Cao of adsorbate A via equilibrium of surface diffusion and adsorption/desorption of A from/to the surrounding gas. (b) Concentration profile of adsorbed species following a step (drop) in surface coverage at the origin, (c) Surface flux of species at the origin (A 4i(t)) as a function of time. Points marked with a solid circle ( ) correspond to the concentration profiles in b. (d) Surface flux of species at the origin (A 4i(ft>)) resulting from a steady periodic sinusoidal oscillation at frequency 0) of the concentration at the origin.

The influence of Pb + ions on the kinetics of zinc electrodeposition on Zn electrode in acidic sulfate electrolyte was discussed [217] in terms of a reaction model involving hydrogen adsorption and evolution, a multistep mechanism for zinc deposition and the overall reaction for zinc dissolution. The strongly adsorbed Pbads inhibited all the reactions taking place on the zinc electrode. 

Equation (3) is linear with respect to the reaction rate variable, R. In the further analysis of more complex, non-linear, mechanisms and corresponding kinetic models, we will present the polynomial as an equation, which generalizes Equation (3), and term it as the kinetic polynomial. We will demonstrate that the overall reaction rate, in the general non-linear case, cannot generally be presented as a difference between two terms representing the forward and reverse reaction rates. This presentation is valid only at the special conditions that will be described. 

Brandt, C., I. Fabian, and R. van Eldik, Kinetics and Mechanism of the Iron(III)-Catalyzed Autooxidation of SulfuKIV) Oxides in Aqueous Solution—Evidence for the Redox Cycling of Iron in the Presence of Oxygen and Modeling of the Overall Reaction Mechanism, Inorg. Chem., 33, 687-701 (1994). 

Most standard chemical engineering tests on kinetics [see those of Car-berry (50), Smith (57), Froment and Bischoff (19), and Hill (52)], omitting such considerations, proceed directly to comprehensive treatment of the subject of parameter estimation in heterogeneous catalysis in terms of rate equations based on LHHW models for simple overall reactions, as discussed earlier. The data used consist of overall reaction velocities obtained under varying conditions of temperature, pressure, and concentrations of reacting species. There seems to be no presentation of a systematic method for initial consideration of the possible mechanisms to be modeled. Details of the methodology for discrimination and parameter estimation among models chosen have been discussed by Bart (55) from a mathematical standpoint. 

The mechanism for cross-linking of thermosetting resins is very complex because of the relative interaction between the chemical kinetics and the changing of the physical properties [49], and it is still not perfectly understood. The literature is ubiquitous with respect to studies of cure kinetic models for these resins. Two distinct approaches are used phenomenological (macroscopic level) [2,5,50-72] and mechanistic (microscopic level) [3,73-85]. The former is related to an overall reaction (only one reaction representing the whole process), the latter to a kinetic mechanism for each elementary reaction occurring during the process. 

The theoretical calculations described have recently been supported by an extraordinary kinetic analysis conducted by Vanrysellberghe and Froment of the HDS of dibenzothiophene (104). That work provides the enthalpies and entropies of adsorption and the equilibrium adsorption constants of H2, H2S, dibenzothiophene, biphenyl, and cyclohexylbenzene under typical HDS conditions for CoMo/A1203 catalysts. This work supports the assumption that there are two different types of catalytic sites, one for direct desulfurization (termed a ) and one for hydrogenation (termed t). Table XIV summarizes the values obtained experimentally for adsorption constants of the various reactants and products, using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood approach. As described in more detail in Section VI, this kinetic model assumes that the reactants compete for adsorption on the active site. This competitive adsorption influences the overall reaction rate in a negative way (inhibition). 

Demonstrating that a redox transformation of a contaminant involves mediated electron transfer requires meeting several criteria (i) the overall reaction must be energetically favorable, (ii) the mediator must have a reduction potential that lies between the bulk donor and the terminal acceptor so that both steps in the electron transfer chain will be energetically favorable, and (iii) both steps in the mediated reaction must be kinetically fast relative to the direct reaction between bulk donor and terminal acceptor. Most evidence for involvement of mediators in reduction of contaminants comes from studies with model systems, because natural reducing media (such as anaerobic sediments) consist of more redox couples than can be characterized readily. Although this is an active area of research, we can identify a variety of likely mediator half-reactions (see Table 16.5). 

The modeling of RD processes is illustrated with the heterogenously catalyzed synthesis of methyl acetate and MTBE. The complex character of reactive distillation processes requires a detailed mathematical description of the interaction of mass transfer and chemical reaction and the dynamic column behavior. The most detailed model is based on a rigorous dynamic rate-based approach that takes into account diffusional interactions via the Maxwell-Stefan equations and overall reaction kinetics for the determination of the total conversion. All major influences of the column internals and the periphery can be considered by this approach. 

The rate-based models usually use the two-film theory and comprise the material and energy balances of a differential element of the two-phase volume in the packing (148). The classical two-film model shown in Figure 13 is extended here to consider the catalyst phase (Figure 33). A pseudo-homogeneous approach is chosen for the catalyzed reaction (see also Section 2.1), and the corresponding overall reaction kinetics is determined by fixed-bed experiments (34). This macroscopic kinetics includes the influence of the liquid distribution and mass transfer resistances at the liquid-solid interface as well as dififusional transport phenomena inside the porous catalyst. 

Those simplified models are often used together with simplified overall reaction rate expressions, in order to obtain analytical solutions for concentrations of reactants and products. However, it is possible to include more complex reaction kinetics if numerical solutions are allowed for. At the same time, it is possible to assume that the temperature is controlled by means of a properly designed device thus, not only adiabatic but isothermal or nonisothermal operations as well can be assumed and analyzed. 

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