Professional Reference Shelf

1. Mass Transfer-Limited Reactions on Metallic

Surfaces
In this section we develop the design equations and give
the mass transfer correlations for two common types of
catalytic reactors: the wire screen or catalyst gauze
reactor and the monolith reactor.
A. Catalyst Monolith. The previous discussion in this
chapter focused primarily on chemical reactions taking
place in packed-bed reactors. However, when a gaseous
feedstream contains significant amounts of particulate
matter, dust tends to clog the catalyst bed. To process
feedstreams of this type, parallel-plate reactors
(monoliths) are commonly used. Figure CD11-1 shows
a schematic diagram of a monolith reactor. The reacting
gas mixture flows between the parallel plates, and the
reaction takes place on the surface of the plates. In
deriving the design equation we carry out a balance on a
differential section of the reactor (Figure CD11-2).

Figure CD11-1

Catalyst monolith.

Figure CD11-2
Top view of monolith.

Mole
balance
for a
monolith

(CD111)

catalyst

where am is the catalytic surface area per

unit volume of reactor and A cis the crosssectional area normal to the direction of gas
flow. <FONT
The rate of surface reaction is equal to mass
flux to the surface. Taking the surface
concentration equal to zero for mass
transfer-limited reactions gives
(CD112)

Substituting Equation (11-71) into (11-70)

and taking the limit as

0 yields
(CD113)

In terms of volume
(CD114)

The surface area per unit volume, a, for n

plates is

(CD11-5)

Typical spacings between the plates are usually

between 0.005 and 0.01 m. The length ranges
between 0.05 and 0.5 m and gas velocities
between 5 and 20 m/s are not uncommon.
The mass transfer coefficient can be calculated
from the correlation

Mass
transfer
correlation
for
a monolith
catalyst

(CD11-6)

The approximate error in the correlation is 20%. Other

limitations of the correlation can be found in the article
just cited by Arashi et al.1

For no volume change with reaction, Equation (CD114) can be integrated to give
(CD117)

Ford and
Chrysler
use
monolith
catalytic
afterburners

A variation of the monolith reactor has the gas flowing

through square (or other shape) channels as shown in
Figure CD11-3. This reactor is also known as a
honeycomb reactor. Monolith reactors are used as
catalytic afterburners on automobiles and are
manufactured by Chrysler and Ford.2

(b)

Figure CD11-3
(a) Honeycomb reactor; (b) catalytic afterburner. (Photo
courtesy of Engelhard Corporation)

B. Wire Gauzes Wire gauzes are commonly used in the

oxidation of ammonia and hydrocarbons. A gauze is a
series of wire screens, stacked one on top of another
(Figure CD11-4). The wire is typically made out of
platinum or a platinum-rhodium alloy. The wire
diameter ranges between 0.004 and 0.01 cm.

Figure CD11-4
Wire gauzes.

As a first approximation, one can assume plug flow through

the gauze, in which case the design equation is similar to that
for monolith reactors,
Differential
form
of the wire
gauze
design
equation

(CD118)

where ag = total screen surface area per total volume of

one screen, m2/m3 or in2/in3

n = number of screens in series

V = n (volume per screen)
The values of ag can be calculated from the equations 3

where d = wire diameter, in.

N = mesh size, number of wires per linear inch
In calculating the volume of the screen, the thickness is
taken as twice the wire diameter (i.e., 2d). The porosity
can be calculated from the equation

The mass transfer coefficient can be obtained from the

correlation for one to three screens,

(CD11-9)

Mass
transfer
correlation
for wire
gauzes

(CD1110)

For one to five screens, the correlation is

(CD1111)

where is the minimum fractional opening of

a single screen:
(CD11-

12)

In the commercial process for the oxidation

of ammonia, typical parameter values are
con
version of ammonia.
When more than one or two screens are
necessary, some backmixing takes place.
Shimizu et al. 4 account for this backmixing
by introducing dispersion in the axial
direction:
(CD1113)

Too few
screens?

Equation (CD11-13) is then combined with

Equation (CD11-8) and solved. When
dispersion is significant it was shown that,
depending on the flow conditions, 33 to
300% more screens were required than
predicted by the plug-flow model.