The effect of mass transfer resistance on the kinetics of catalytic hydrodesulfurization of thiophene over Pt/Al2O3

Abstract

In kinetic study of reactions carried out in the presence of heterogeneous catalyst, it is very important to study the effects of mass transfer rate firstly which can be effective in adding to chemical kinetic. The present work investigates the catalytic hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of thiophene over Pt/ Al₂O₃, to determine the effect of interface mass transfer resistance. The experimental work was performed in a HDS continuous flow fixed bed catalytic reactor unit consisted of a carbon steel tube (2.54 cm diameter, and 60 cm length), located in the laboratories of chemical engineering department, Baghdad University. The objective of the work was to investigate effect of mass transfer limitations (internal diffusion and external diffusion) in catalytic reaction of thiophene HDS. It was verified that mass transfer resistances has a small effect on the reaction rate.