Multifunctionality at particle level - Studies for adsorptive catalysts

Abstract

9.6 Conclusions: In this work, an attempt has been made to demonstrate the relevance of multifunctional catalyst using an adsorptive catalyst as the model system. The Claus process was used as a reference reaction scheme to study the influence of distribution of catalyst and adsorbent functionalities at the particle level on the performance of an adsorptive reactor. The study reveals the existence of distinct regimes that govern the performance of an adsorptive reactor. The regimes determine the choice of the optimal microstructure at any location in the reactor. Though a non-uniform distribution of functionalities is found optimal, the performance of an optimal uniform distribution is nevertheless comparable. Thus the utility of functionality microstructuring may be limited to the micro-integration of functionalities at the particle level. Micro-integration of functionalities is found to be a useful tool to circumvent transport limitations in an adsorptive reactor. Though not explicitly described here, the optimal distribution of functionalities in an adsorptive reactor also involves a non-uniform distribution of functionalities at the reactor level. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.