Adsorption of the Reacting Gases During the Hydrogenation ofEthylene over a Copper Catalyst

Abstract

Kinetics of the ethylene hydrogenation over a silica-supported copper catalyst was studied, together with the measurements of the adsorption of the reacting gases being examined during the hydrogenation.
It was found that the rate of hydrogenation is proportional to the square of the amount of hydrogen adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst, i. e. r=K(aPH/1+aPH), and that the activation energy of k is 5.8 kcal/mol.
From the experimental results, we have arrived at the conclusions that the hydrogenation occurs via a reaction of two weekly adsorbed hydrogen atoms with ethylene adsorbed strongly on an independent site and that weekly adsorbed ethylene and adsorbed hydrogen compete with each other.