Reaction external mass transfer

B <1 < 1 1 < reaction external mass transfer both external mass transfer and internal diffusion... 

The H2S reaction is a typical gas-solid reaction. External mass transfer or diffusion of H2S through the ZnO bed could hmit the reaction rate. Novichinskii et al. [24] reported that flake- or plate-type adsorbents offer lower mass transfer limitations compared with cube- or prism-type materials. Furthermore, an optimum ZnO particle size should be chosen with regard to capacity and pressure difference. 

FIG. 16-9 General scheme of adsorbent particles in a packed bed showing the locations of mass transfer and dispersive mechanisms. Numerals correspond to mimhered paragraphs in the text 1, pore diffusion 2, solid diffusion 3, reaction kinetics at phase boundary 4, external mass transfer 5, fluid mixing. 

Figure 16-27 compares the various constant pattern solutions for R = 0.5. The curves are of a similar shape. The solution for reaction kinetics is perfectly symmetrical. The cui ves for the axial dispersion fluid-phase concentration profile and the linear driving force approximation are identical except that the latter occurs one transfer unit further down the bed. The cui ve for external mass transfer is exactly that for the linear driving force approximation turned upside down [i.e., rotated 180° about cf= nf = 0.5, N — Ti) = 0]. The hnear driving force approximation provides a good approximation for both pore diffusion and surface diffusion. 

FIG. 16-27 Constant pattern solutions for R = 0.5. Ordinant is cfor nfexcept for axial dispersion for which individual curves are labeled a, axial dispersion h, external mass transfer c, pore diffusion (spherical particles) d, surface diffusion (spherical particles) e, linear driving force approximation f, reaction kinetics. [from LeVan in Rodrigues et al. (eds.), Adsorption Science and Technology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dor drecht, The Nether lands, 1989 r eprinted with permission.]... 

The rectangular isotherm has received special attention. For this, many of the constant patterns are developed fuUy at the bed inlet, as shown for external mass transfer [Klotz, Chem. Rev.s., 39, 241 (1946)], pore diffusion [Vermeulen, Adv. Chem. Eng., 2, 147 (1958) Hall et al., Jnd. Eng. Chem. Fundam., 5, 212 (1966)], the linear driving force approximation [Cooper, Jnd. Eng. Chem. Fundam., 4, 308 (1965)], reaction kinetics [Hiester and Vermeulen, Chem. Eng. Progre.s.s, 48, 505 (1952) Bohart and Adams, J. Amei Chem. Soc., 42, 523 (1920)], and axial dispersion [Coppola and LeVan, Chem. Eng. ScL, 38, 991 (1983)]. 

The simplest isotherm is /if = cf corresponding to R = 1. For this isotherm, the rate equation for external mass transfer, the linear driving force approximation, or reaction kinetics, can be combined with Eq. (16-130) to obtain... 

Isocratic Elution In the simplest case, feed with concentration cf is apphed to the column for a time tp followed by the pure carrier fluid. Under trace conditions, for a hnear isotherm with external mass-transfer control, the linear driving force approximation or reaction kinetics (see Table 16-12), solution of Eq. (16-146) gives the following expression for the dimensionless solute concentration at the column outlet ... 

Correlations of heat and mass-transfer rates are fairly well developed and can be incorporated in models of a reaction process, but the chemical rate data must be determined individually. The most useful rate data are at constant temperature, under conditions where external mass transfer resistance has been avoided, and with small particles... 

In general, the concentration of the reactant will decrease from CAo in the bulk of the fluid to CAi at the surface of the particle, to give a concentration driving force of CAo - CAi)-Thus, within the pellet, the concentration will fall progressively from CAi with distance from the surface. This presupposes that no distinct adsorbed phase is formed in the pores. In this section the combined effects of mass transfer and chemical reaction within the particle are considered, and the effects of external mass transfer are discussed in Section J 0.8.4. 

A final, obvious but important, caution about catalyst film preparation Its thickness and surface area Ac must be low enough, so that the catalytic reaction under study is not subject to external or internal mass transfer limitations within the desired operating temperature range. Direct impingement of the reactant stream on the catalyst surface1,19 is advisable in order to diminish the external mass transfer resistance. 

Most of the actual reactions involve a three-phase process gas, liquid, and solid catalysts are present. Internal and external mass transfer limitations in porous catalyst layers play a central role in three-phase processes. The governing phenomena are well known since the days of Thiele [43] and Frank-Kamenetskii [44], but transport phenomena coupled to chemical reactions are not frequently used for complex organic systems, but simple - often too simple - tests based on the use of first-order Thiele modulus and Biot number are used. Instead, complete numerical simulations are preferable to reveal the role of mass and heat transfer at the phase boundaries and inside the porous catalyst particles. 

Traditionally, an average Sherwood number has been determined for different catalytic fixed-bed reactors assuming constant concentration or constant flux on the catalyst surface. In reality, the boundary condition on the surface has neither a constant concentration nor a constant flux. In addition, the Sh-number will vary locally around the catalyst particles and in time since mass transfer depends on both flow and concentration boundary layers. When external mass transfer becomes important at a high reaction rate, the concentration on the particle surface varies and affects both the reaction rate and selectivity, and consequently, the traditional models fail to predict this outcome. 

If diffusion of reactants to the active sites in pores is slower than the chemical reaction, internal mass transfer is at least partly limiting and the reactant concentration decreases along the pores. This reduces the reaction rate compared to the rate at external surface conditions. A measure of the reaction rate decrease is the effectiveness factor, r, which has been defined as ... 

The presence of two phases in the reaction mixture may seem to be a mass-transfer engineering problem, but even moderate stirring of the mixture produces an emulsion, which greatly facilitates the phase transfer steps of the reaction mechanism. In our fixed-bed reactor, the turbulence resulting from the flow rates used seemed to suffice to eliminate external mass transfer hmitations. At MeOH SA of 20 and identical LHSV values, similar acid conversions were observed for two linear flow velocities differing by a factor of two. 

Prior to conducting the DOE (design of experiments) described in Table 3, it was established that no reaction took place in the absence of a catalyst and that the reactions were conducted in the region where chemical kinetics controlled the reaction rate. The results indicated that operating the reactor at 1000 rpm was sufficient to minimize the external mass-transfer limitations. Pore diffusion limitations were expected to be minimal as the median catalyst particle size is <25 pm. Further, experiments conducted under identical conditions to ensure repeatability and reproducibility in the two reactors yielded results that were within 5%. 

The only instances in which external mass transfer processes can influence observed conversion rates are those in which the intrinsic rate of the chemical reaction is so rapid that an appreciable concentration gradient is established between the external surface of the catalyst and the bulk fluid. The rate at which mass transfer to the external catalyst surface takes place is greater than the rate of molecular diffusion for a given concentration or partial pressure driving force, since turbulent mixing or eddy diffusion processes will supplement ordinary molecular diffusion. Consequently, for porous catalysts one... 

To illustrate the masking effects that arise from intraparticle and external mass transfer effects, consider a surface reaction whose intrinsic kinetics are second-order in species A. For this rate expression, equation 12.4.20 can be written as... 

Equations 12.4.22 and 12.4.24 indicate that the observed reaction order will differ from the intrinsic reaction order in the presence of intraparticle and/or external mass transfer limitations. To avoid drawing erroneous conclusions about intrinsic reaction kinetics, we must be careful to either eliminate these limitations by proper choice of experimental conditions or to properly take them into account in our data analysis. 

The difference in mole fractions is most significant in the case of S02 where this difference is 15% of the bulk phase level. This result indicates that external mass transfer limitations are indeed significant, and that this difference should be taken into account in the analysis of kinetic data from this system. Note that there is a difference in nitrogen concentration between the bulk fluid and the external surface because there is a change in the number of moles on reaction, and there is a net molar flux toward... 

Before terminating the discussion of external mass transfer limitations on catalytic reaction rates, we should note that in the regime where external mass transfer processes limit the reaction rate, the apparent activation energy of the reaction will be quite different from the intrinsic activation energy of the catalytic reaction. In the limit of complete external mass transfer control, the apparent activation energy of the reaction becomes equal to that of the mass transfer coefficient, typically a kilocalorie or so per gram mole. This decrease in activation energy is obviously... 

At steady state, the rates of each of the individual steps will be the same, and this equality is used to develop an expression for the global reaction rate in terms of bulk-fluid properties. Actually, we have already employed a relation of this sort in the development of equation 12.4.28 where we examined the influence of external mass transfer limitations on observed reaction rates. Generally, we must worry not only about concentration differences between the bulk fluid and the external surface of the catalyst, but also about temperature differences between these points and intraparticle gradients in temperature and composition. 

Here, as in Section 8.5.4, we treat the isothermal case for ijo, and relate tj0 to 17. may then be interpreted as the ratio of the (observed) rate of reaction with pore diffusion and external mass transfer resistance to the rate with neither of these present. 

If the surface reaction is the rate-controlling step, any effects of external mass transfer and pore-diffusion are negligible in comparison. The interpretation of this, in terms of the various parameters, is that Ag kA, cAs - cAg, and T) and 17 both approach the value of 1. Thus, the rate law, from equation 8.5-50, is just that for a homogeneous gas-phase... 

A kinetics or reaction model must take into account the various individual processes involved in the overall process. We picture the reaction itself taking place on solid B surface somewhere within the particle, but to arrive at the surface, reactant A must make its way from the bulk-gas phase to the interior of the particle. This suggests the possibility of gas-phase resistances similar to those in a catalyst particle (Figure 8.9) external mass-transfer resistance in the vicinity of the exterior surface of the particle, and interior diffusion resistance through pores of both product formed and unreacted reactant. The situation is illustrated in Figure 9.1 for an isothermal spherical particle of radius A at a particular instant of time, in terms of the general case and two extreme cases. These extreme cases form the bases for relatively simple models, with corresponding concentration profiles for A and B. 

As can be concluded from this short description of the factors influencing the overall reaction rate in liquid-solid or gas-solid reactions, the structure of the stationary phase is of significant importance. In order to minimize the transport limitations, different types of supports were developed, which will be discussed in the next section. In addition, the amount of enzyme (operative ligand on the surface of solid phase) as well as its activity determine the reaction rate of an enzyme-catalyzed process. Thus, in the following sections we shall briefly describe different types of chromatographic supports, suited to provide both the high surface area required for high enzyme capacity and the lowest possible internal and external mass transfer resistances. 

Figure 7-9 Reactant concentration profiles around and within a porous catalyst pellet for the cases of reaction control, external mass transfer control, and pore difliision control. Each of these situations leads to different reaclion rate expressions.

Figure 7-10 Reactant concentration profiles around a catalyst pellet for reaction control (A > k") and for external mass transfer control ( tni k )-...

As the temperature is varied in a reactor, we should expect to see the rate-controlling step vary. At sufficiently low temperature the reaction rate coefficient is small and the overall rate is reaction limited. As the temperature increases, pore diffusion next becomes controlling (Da is nearly independent of temperature), and at sufficiency high temperature external mass transfer might limit the overall process. Thus a plot of log rate versus 1 / T might look as shown in Figure 7-15. 

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