Modeling the catalytic process of cyclohexane isomerization to methylcyclopentane

Abstract

The kinetics of the isomerization of cyclohexane to methylcyclopentane on Pd-mordenite catalyst in a flow reactor has been studied. In the experiments, parameters such as the volumetric flow rate of the feedstock, the component composition of the feed gas (cyclohexane, methylcyclopentane, hydrogen), and the temperature and pressure in the reactor have been varied. The concentrations of hydrogen, cyclohexane, and methylcyclopentane in the feed gas have been determined. A stepwise reaction mechanism of cyclohexane isomerization has been suggested. A kinetic model that contains the direct constant of the limiting stage rate and the combination of equilibrium constants of the fast stages in a set for estimating the constants has been built. An additional precision (improving) experiment has shown that the model constants are estimated with a high accuracy. A predictive ability of the model under experimental conditions has been proved to be high.