An experimental study of reactions on platinum wires and gauzes

An experimental study of temperature fluctuations on platinum wires during the catalytic oxidation of ammonia and butane was performed. This phenomenon has not yet been reported in the literature. A similar effect, known-as "flickering", occurs in several important industrial processes. These temperature oscillations may have an important effect on the surface rearrangements during the activation period and influence catalytic metal loss during operation. In order to explore the effect of turbulence on this phenomenon three different reactors, which produce different levels of turbulence intensity and frequency, have been used. The temperature fluctuations which are of the order of 100[degrees]C were found to be strongly dependent on the turbulence nature. The frequency of the temperature fluctuations was found to be lower than that of the velocity fluctuations. An increase in the reactants concentration caused a corresponding increase in the magnitude of the temperature fluctuation.