“Multiplicity of steady states in an isothermal catalyst pellet”,

P. GIUNTA; M. BERGAMINI; M. MORENO; F. MARIÑO; M. LABORDE; N. AMADEO

Montreal, Canada;

Congreso; 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering,; 2009

The CO preferential oxidation (COPROX) reaction is the last stage in the purification stage of the hydrogen stream produced by ethanol steam reforming. In our laboratory, a lab scale study of this reaction is being studied, employing Cu/CeO2 catalyst with sizes in the order of microns. Experimental results showed that conversion increased when increasing catalyst size, thus suggesting that the efectiveness factor (ç) also increased. This rise of the effectivenes factor suggests in turn the possible existence of multiplicity of steady states inside the catalyst pellet. Simulations showed that, although pellets behave isothermally, multiplicity is possible if the kinetics is non – monotonous with respect to the reactants’ composition. A Langmuir – Hinshelwood type kinetics was employed for this study.