Periodic operation of trickle bed reactors: An approach to catalyst design through modeling at the particle scale

Abstract

The behavior of an isothermal catalytic particle in a TBR with ON-OFF liquid flow modulation has been modeled considering isothermal conditions. The impact of catalytic properties has been investigated considering uniform and egg shell distributions. Furthermore, the effect of varying inert core porosity for egg shell catalysts has also been addressed. The model represents experimental trends observed for slow and intermediate cycling. In most cases, egg shell catalysts presented a better performance in comparison with uniform catalysts. However, during cycling, performance depends on working conditions and catalytic properties. Therefore, catalyst design and mode of operation are related issues that need to be defined jointly. The relevance of internal processes (reaction, diffusion, and accumulation) and external transport on overall performance has been addressed. Therefore, the model would serve as a basis, coupled with the development at reactor scale, for the integral reactor design.