The kinetic effects of decreasing catalytic activity on a simple rate expression

• Published in: International journal of chemical kinetics Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 7 - 16
• Main Authors: Read, J. F., Bewick, S. A., Dunfield, L. G., Wetmore, S. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2000
• ISSN: 0538-8066; 1097-4601
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4601(2000)32:1<7::AID-JCK2>3.0.CO;2-S

When kinetics are studied for a catalyzed reaction, the active catalyst surface available affects the results. This article illustrates the effect of a progressively decreasing available surface on the heterogeneous kinetics of a gas‐phase reaction in a closed system. The present contribution focuses on the effect of simple mth order surface deactivation on a simple nth order kinetic expression. The basic analysis and general results are unchanged if more complex equations are used. It is shown that there are certain common anomalous characteristics of kinetic expressions involving deactivation. In particular, the apparent rate constant and the apparent order are usually dependent on both the actual and initial pressures of the reactant, and the reaction may not go to completion. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 32: 7–16, 2000