Reaction rate calculations for cosubstrates diffusing into catalyst layer from opposite sides

Abstract

The effects of diffusion on a reaction taking place in a permeable catalyst are examined theoretically for the case where the reaction has two substrates supplied from opposite sides of a catalytic slab. The solutions of the reaction-diffusion equation for combinations of zeroth-and first-order kinetics are given in terms of an effectiveness factor and a parameter describing the position in the layer where the reaction occurs. In these terms, the results vary only weakly with reaction order. The use of the exact solutions for a reaction that is zeroth order in both sub strates is proposed as a general rule for estimating the reaction rate and the reaction position.