Diffusion and Reactions in Spherical Catalyst Pellets:

In a heterogeneous reaction sequence, mass transfer of reactants first takes place

from the bulk fluid to the external surface of the pellet. The reactants then diffuse
from the external surface into and through the pores within the pellet, with reaction
taking place only on the catalytic surface of the pores. A schematic representation
of this two-step diffusion process is shown in Figures 3.1 and 3.2.

Figure 3.1: Steps in Heterogeneous Catalytic Reaction

Figure 3.2: Mass transfer and Reaction Steps for a Catalyst Pellet
To illustrate the diffusion within the catalyst let us consider an example of
irreversible isomerization that occurs on the surface of the pore walls within the
spherical pellet of radius R. –
AB

1. Effective Diffusivity:
To reach the inner surface, the reactant must diffuse from a higher concentration
at the pallet external surface into and through the pores of pellets which are at a
lower concentration as shown in Figure 3.2.
The pores in the pellet are not straight and cylindrical; rather, they are a series of
tortuous, interconnecting paths of pore bodies and pore throats with varying
cross-sectional areas. It is difficult to describe diffusion within each and every
one of the tortuous pathways individually; consequently, an effective diffusion
coefficient describes the average diffusion taking place at any interior position
“r” in the pellet. Considering only radial variations in the concentration; the
radial flux WAr will be based on the total area (voids and solid) normal to diffusion
transport (i.e., 4πr2) rather than void area alone. This basis for WAr is made
possible by proper definition of the effective diffusivity De.
The effective diffusivity accounts for the fact that:
a) Not all of the area normal to the direction of the flux is available (i.e., the
area occupied by solids) for the molecules to diffuse.
b) The paths are tortuous.
c) The pores are of varying cross-sectional areas.
An equation that relates the effective diffusivity De to either the bulk diffusivity
DAB or the Knudsen diffusivity DK is –

------ (3.1)

where,
 The constriction factor, σc, accounts for the variation in the cross-sectional area
that is normal to diffusion. It is a function of the ratio of maximum to minimum
pore areas [figure 3.3(a)]. When the two areas, A1 and A2, are equal, the
constriction factor is unity, and when β = 10, the constriction factor is
approximately 0.5.

Figure 3.3: (a) Pore Constriction; (b) Pore Tortuosity

Example 1: Finding Effective Diffusivity De

Using typical values of DAB, ϕp, σc and τ, estimate the effective diffusivity De.

Solution:
To start with, calculate tortuosity for the hypothetical length, L [figure 3.3(b)], from
the definition –

Also, the shortest distance between points A and B for the idealized pore shown in
figure 3.3(b) is = 20.5L. The actual distance the molecules travel from A to B is 2L.

tortuosity = 2L/20.5L = 20.5 = 1.414

The above tortuosity value is quite reasonable whereas values of tortuosity = 6 to

10 are not uncommon.
Typical values of the constriction factor, the tortuosity, and the pellet porosity are,
respectively,
Also, typical value of the gas phase diffusivity is DAB = 10-6 m2/s.

Using the above values and putting them in equation 3.1 will give –

De = (10-6 x 0.4 x 0.8) / 3.0

De = 10-7 m2/s.

NOTE: From above example one can conclude that the value of the effective
diffusivity (De) in the porous pellet is 10% of the gas phase diffusivity (DAB).

2. Model for Differential Equation Describing Diffusion and Reaction in a

Single Catalyst Pellet:
Assumptions:
a) Isothermal operation
b) Steady State
c) Angular Symmetry (at a specific radius, the properties at any angle are
same).
d) Equi-Molar Counter Diffusion (EMCD)
e) Diffusion coefficient will take care of irregularities present in catalyst
pellet.
First we will derive the concentration profile of reactant A in the pellet. A steady-
state mole balance is applied on species A as it enters, leaves, and reacts in a
spherical shell of inner radius r and outer radius r + Δr of the pellet (Figure 3.4).
 Figure 3.4: Shell balance on a Catalyst pellet
The area in the balance equation is the total area (voids and solids) normal to the
direction of molar flux shown by the arrows in Figure 3.4.
------ (3.2)

------ (3.3)

------ (3.4)

where rm is some mean radius between r and r + Δr that is used to approximate

the volume ΔV of the shell, and ρc is the density of the pellet.

The mole balance over the shell thickness Δr is –

------ (3.5)

After dividing above expression by (-4πΔr) and taking the limit as Δr → 0, we

obtain the following differential equation –
 ------ (3.6)

If 1 mol of A reacts under conditions of constant temperature and pressure to

form 1 mol of B, then we have Equal Molar Counter Diffusion (EMCD) at
constant total molar concentration and, therefore –

------ (3.7)

where CA is the number of moles of A per dm3 of open-pore volume (i.e., volume
of gas) as opposed to (mol/vol of gas and solids). In systems where we do not
have EMCD in catalyst pores, it may still be possible to use Equation (3.7) if the
reactant gases are present in dilute concentrations.
After substituting Equation (3.7) into Equation (3.6), we arrive at the following
differential equation describing diffusion with reaction in a catalyst pellet –

------ (3.8)

Now incorporate the rate law. Rate of reaction in terms of either per unit volume:

or per unit mass of catalyst:

for reactions on the internal surface area of catalysts, the rate of reaction and rate
law are often based on per unit surface area:

The surface area of the catalyst per unit mass of catalyst is given as –
Sa is an important property of the catalyst. The rate of reaction per unit mass of
catalyst, -r’A, and the rate of reaction per unit surface area of catalyst are related
through the equation –

A typical value of Sa might be 150 m2/g of catalyst.

At high temperatures, the denominator of the catalytic rate law often approaches
to 1. Consequently, assume that the surface reaction is of nth order in the gas-
phase concentration of A within the pellet –
------ (3.9)

where the units of the rate constants for –rA, –r’A, and –r”A are

Similarly,

Substituting rate law equation 3.9 into equation 3.8 we get:

------ (3.10)
 Letting kn represent the terms in the bracket, differentiating the first term and
dividing throughout by –r2De, equation 3.10 becomes:

------ (3.11)

With the boundary conditions are as:

1. The concentration remains finite at the center of the pellet

2. At the external surface of the catalyst pellet, the concentration is CAs

3. Now writing the diffusion equation in dimensionless form –

We now introduce dimensionless variables ψ and λ. Let –

ψ = CA / CAs ------ (3.12)

λ=r/R ------ (3.13)

Now the boundary conditions in terms of dimensionless transformed variables

are as follows –

another boundary condition,

Rewriting differential equation for the molar flux in terms of our dimensionless
variables. Taking equation 3.7 first –

using the chain rule to write

------ (3.14)

Now differentiating eqn. 3.12 w.r.to ψ and eqn. 3.13 w.r.to λ we get –

substituting above results in eqn. 3.14,

------ (3.15)

Therefore, the flux of A in terms of the dimensionless variables, ψ and λ, is –

------ (3.16)

At steady state, the net flow of species A that enters into the pellet at the external
pellet surface reacts completely within the pellet. The overall rate of reaction is
therefore equal to the total molar flow of A into the catalyst pellet.
The overall rate of reaction, MA (mol/s), can be obtained by multiplying the molar
flux into the pellet at the outer surface by the external surface area of the pellet,
4πR2 –

------ (3.17)

(All the reactant that diffuses into the pellet is consumed (a black hole))

Solving eqn. 3.11 for CA, differentiating CA w.r.to r, and then substituting the
resulting expression into eqn. 3.17.
Differentiating eqn. 3.15 yields,
 ------ (3.18)

After dividing by CAs / R2, the dimensionless form of equation 3.11 is written as:

Then,
------ (3.19)

The above equation is the dimensionless form of equation 3.11 describing

diffusion and reaction.

where,

------ (3.20)

The square root of the coefficient of ψn in Equation 3.19 (i.e., ϕn) is called the
Thiele modulus. The Thiele modulus, ϕn, will always contain a subscript (e.g.,
n), which refers to the reaction order. The quantity is a measure of the ratio of
“a” surface reaction rate to “a” rate of diffusion through the catalyst pellet.

------ (3.20)

Limiting Condition for Thiele Modulus: When the Thiele modulus is large,
internal diffusion usually limits the overall rate of reaction; when ϕn is small, the
surface reaction is usually rate-limiting. For the first order reaction-

AB

If the reaction were surface reaction rate limited with respect to the adsorption of
A and desorption of B, and if A and B were weakly adsorbed (i.e., low surface
coverage), we can write the apparent first-order reaction rate law per unit volume
of pellet as:

where k1 is the rate constant for a single catalyst pellet.

Recalling k1 = Saρck″ we could also write the rate in terms of pellet catalytic
surface area (mol/m2.s)

------ (3.21)

The units of k”1 are m3/m2s (= m/s).

For a first order reaction, eqn. 3.19 becomes:

------ (3.22)

the Thiele modulus for this first-order reaction is

------ (3.23)

where,

Revised boundary conditions are:

------ (3.24)
------ (3.25)
4. Solution to the Differential Equation for a First-Order Reaction:
Equation 3.22 can be solved by transforming y = ψλ:

with the above transformation, equation 3.22 reduces to –

------ (3.26)

The above differential equation 3.26 has the following solution in terms of
hyperbolic function:

In terms of ψ,

A1 and B1 are the arbitrary constants whose value can be predicted using
boundary conditions:
at λ = 0, cosh(ϕ1λ)  1, (1/ λ)  infinity, sinh(ϕ1λ)  0

Also, from the second boundary condition, ψ requires to be finite at the center
(i.e., λ = 0)
Therefore, A1 must be zero. This implies that, A1 = 0.
Constant B1 is evaluated from B. C. 1 (i.e., ψ =1, λ = 1).
B1 comes out to be = 1/ sinhϕ1

Therefore, dimensionless concentration profile is given as –

------ (3.27)
 Figure 3.5: Concentration profile in a Spherical Catalyst Pellet

Figure 3.5 shows the concentration profile for three different values of the Thiele
modulus, ϕ1.
 Small values of the Thiele modulus indicate surface reaction controls and a
significant amount of the reactant diffuses well into the pellet interior without
reacting. As a result, the concentration profile is very shallow, with the
concentration at the center of the pellet being close to that at the external
surface. That is, virtually the entire internal surface is accessible to the reactant
concentration CAs.
 Large values of the Thiele modulus indicate that the surface reaction is rapid
and that the reactant is consumed very close to the external pellet surface and
very little penetrates into the interior of the pellet. Consequently, if the porous
pellet is to be plated with a precious metal catalyst (e.g., Pt), it should only be
plated in the immediate vicinity of the external surface when large values of
ϕn characterize the diffusion and reaction. That is, it would be a waste of the
precious metal to plate the entire pellet when internal diffusion is limiting
because the reacting gases are consumed near the outer surface. Consequently,
the reacting gases would never contact the center portion of the pellet.
Or in simpler words, for large values of Thiele Modulus, internal diffusion
limits the rate of reaction.