Effectiveness factor of a catalyst pellet in a trickle bed reactor: Limiting reactant in the gas phase

Abstract

The influence of both internal and external wettings on the effectiveness factor of a partially wetted catalyst pellet in a trickle-bed reactor when the limiting reactant is in the gas phase is analyzed. A new parameter, not considered up to now, measuring the gas-liquid interfacial area inside and on the pellet surface, is introduced to study different forms of wetting. The reaction in the dry zone is also taken into account and its influence on the effectiveness factor for both the pores mouth and pores end dry is studied. An approximate analytical expression for the effectiveness factor, giving close results to the numerical solution, is proposed.