A study of the electrochemical reduction of nitrobenzene to p-aminophenol in a packed bed electrode reactor

Abstract

A reaction engineering model and an electrochemical reactor model are developed for the reduction of nitrobenzene to p-aminophenol in a packed bed electrode reactor. The reactor model is based on a simplification of the two-dimensional Poisson equation for the potential distribution. The predictions of the model are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. The process can be operated at a superficial current density greater than 1500 A m −2, with an average selectivity greater than 80%, and a current efficiency > 75% for p-aminophenol in the experimental packed electrode reactor.