Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

"Temperature and composition were measured at various locations in a system where ethylene is hydrogenated to ethane on a 1/4 inch porous catalyst wedge made of nickel supported on alumina. 'When the wedge of catalyst was bathed in hydrogen, experimental results indicated a high temperature rise from the feed temperature to the catalyst which is implied by the diffusion controlled regime for solid catalyzed, highly exothermic reactions. This high activity was reversibly reduced by bathing the catalyst wedge in nitrogen for extended time periods (greater than 24 hours). This nitrogen soaking changed the experimental conditions from those of diffusion controlled kinetics to those typically exhibited by systems in the kinetic regime.

The experimental system was simulated numerically for a variety of boundary conditions using reasonable assumptions and physical property data for this reaction system. Heat and mass transfer coefficients were allowed to vary along the wedge according to boundary layer theory results. For the internal wedge temperatures predicted by the model to agree within 1% of those measured experimentally, it was necessary to consider finite heat transfer at the stagnation point which is contrary to the classical boundary layer theory commonly applied to flat plate and wedge flows. It was also necessary to allow modest (~6% or less) heat loss from the back edge of the wedge"--Abstract, page ii.

Advisor(s)

Crosser, Orrin K.

Committee Member(s)

Robertson, B. Ken
Johnson, James W., 1930-2002
Zakin, J. L.
Roach, D. Vincent

Department(s)

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Degree Name

Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

1974

Pagination

viii, 137 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 53-56).

Rights

© 1974 Joseph Michael Schardl, Jr., All rights reserved.

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Chemical reactionsBoundary layer

Thesis Number

T 3003

Print OCLC #

6011559

Electronic OCLC #

914182428

Download

Share

 
COinS