Gas diffusion in bi-disperse porous catalyst pellets

A flux equation of diffusion for bi-disperse porous catalyst pellets was proposed by modifying the previously developed model equation over fractal trajectories. The proposed fractal model equation considered the same tortuous degree for both micro and macro-pores. The experimental data of diffusion over a bi-disperse Ni/gamma-alumina pellet were obtained with a standard Wicke-Kallenbach diffusion cell for both carbon monoxide-ethylene and carbon dioxide-ethylene binary mixtures. The fitting between experimental results and the fractal model equation leads to a fractal dimension of 1.11. The prediction of diffusion flux over the bi-disperse Ni/gamma-alumina pellet by the proposed fractal model equation is much better than the traditional tortuosity-based model equation by comparison with the measured flux through the pellet.