An approximate solution to the model of a sparged packed bed electrode reactor

Abstract

An approximate analytical solution to the mathematical model of a sparged packed bed electrochemical reactor (SPBER) in which a gaseous reactant undergoes direct anodic oxidation is presented. The model is based on two strongly nonlinear partial differential equations and is solved by the inverse operator method (IOM). The solution is used to study the direct anodic oxidation of propylene. The approximate IOM solution is useful in that it enables the direct investigation of the effect of model parameters on the operation of the reactor. Current density against electrode potential, polarization data, for the anodic oxidation of propylene in the SPBER is presented. Nonlinear parameter estimate methods are used to fit the model to experimental data to obtain physically meaningful values of kinetic parameters.