A mathematical model for the dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane in a packed bed reactor

A model for the dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane in a tubular reactor over an industrial catalyst Pt-Sn/Al₂O₃ has been established. This model takes into account the axial dispersion at the inlet of the catalytic bed reactor as well as the heat transfer at the wall of the reactor. The heat transfer at the wall is satisfactorily represented by using a heat transfer coefficient correlation for which the parameters are obtained by fitting to the experimental data. The model provides a good representation of the radial and axial temperature profiles in the packed bed and can be also used to calculate the conversion.