Microreactors as tools in kinetic investigations: Ethylene oxide formation on silver catalyst

Chemical Engineering Science, Volume 87, 14 January 2013, Pages 306–314
Microreactors as tools in kinetic investigations: Ethylene oxide formation on silver catalyst
Tapio Salmi, José Hernández Carucci, Mauricio Roche, Kari Eränen, Johan Wärnå, Dmitry Murzin
Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering, Process Chemistry Centre, Åbo Akademi, FI-20500 Turku/Åbo, Finland
Abstract
Reports a study of the kinetics of ethylene oxide formation from ethylene and molecular oxygen in an isothermal microreactor. A set of kinetic experiments was carried out by varying the concentrations of oxygen and ethylene in the feed. The total pressure was varied between 1 and 5 bar. The reaction temperature was 250 °C. Pure silver microplates were used as catalysts for the experiments. The reaction products were analyzed with rapid micro gas chromatography.
Authors propose a novel generalized kinetic model for ethylene oxide formation. Their work shows that gas-phase microreactors combined with micro gas chromatography are strong tools in kinetic research.
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