A Review of Packed Bed Reactor and Gradient-less Recycle Reactor for Determination of Intrinsic Reaction Kinetics

Abstract

Intrinsic reaction kinetics is an essential information in catalytic reaction engineering. This paper reviews the two laboratory reactors, i.e., the packed-bed reactor and gradient-less recycle reactor commonly employed for determining the intrinsic reaction kinetics of heterogeneous catalysts. Although both reactors have been well-known for kinetic studies for a long time, there are still efforts to address some essential issues and to further develop the reactors. For example, a new design of the gradient-less recycle reactor was developed to broaden the operating window for intrinsic kinetic studies at low pressure. Furthermore, the intrinsic kinetic modeling in the gradient-less recycle reactor and packed-bed reactor, including the effects of mass transfer and axial dispersion, was also investigated. This review article provides in detail the types of both reactors, the development of both packed-bed reactor and gradient-less recycle reactor, intrinsic kinetic modeling, and the methods for determining heat- and mass- transfer limitations. All of these point out the suitable methods for determining intrinsic kinetics and perspectives for future works.