Measurement of adsorption and surface reaction rate by catalytic reaction chromatography. I. Theory

A chromatographic method is proposed where two columns are used for reaction and separation respectively. As the ratio of these two column lengths are varied, various moments of the reaction peaks are measured. Thus, absorption and rate of surface reaction are calculated without knowing the rate of mass transfer or the controlling step for reaction rate. Effects of mass transfer have been examined. Results show that within broad ranges of E (axial dispersion), kf (film diffusion) and Dc (intraparticle diffusion), no obvious effect on adsorption equilibrium (K) and rate of surface reaction (kr) is detected, only the adsorption rate constant is slightly affected. A simplified technique is thus developed for the understanding of the mechanism of reaction on a heterogeneous catalyst.