A CSTR measurement of high pressure catalytic methanation

A continuous stirred tank reactor for high pressure catalytic methanation studies has been designed, built, and tested. Specifications, operating procedure, and limitations of the system are presented. This reactor is to be used to investigate the mechanism of the methanation reaction, as well as, to investigate the support effect on catalytic activity for various catalysts and supports. The kinetics of methanation over nickel catalyst were studied, in order to demonstrate the use of the reactor and to evaluate its performance. The operating region of the reactor, where prefect mixing prevails, was determined by pulse testing. External diffusional effects on the reaction rate were eliminated by running the reactor at high speed (determined experimentally) where such effects are absent. Intraparticle diffusional effects were eliminated by measuring effectiveness factors, which determines the maximum catalyst size. [...]