EFFECTIVENESS FACTOR AND TEMPERATURE PROFILE OF A SINGLE SPHERICAL CATALYST PELLET WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION

HYDROGENATION OF ETHYLENE

Abstract

Hydrogenation of ethylene on a single spherical catalyst in a tubular reactor was carried out at ambient temperature of 35-75°C and with volumetric velocity of reactive gases of 10-40cm3 (18°C I atm)/sec. The conversion at the outlet and the temperatures at the center and at various azimuthal angular positions to the stream on the outer surface of the catalyst were measured.
The method of Bischoff to evaluate effectiveness factor for catalyst particle with non-uniform surface temperature was extended to include transport effects of fluid film, applying the method presented previously by the present authors. Numerical values of the effectiveness factor obtained by various methods are compared and discussed.