Conversion rates in a laboratory trickle-bed reactor during the oxidation of ethanol

We examined the conversion rate during the oxidation of ethanol in a trickle-bed reactor in a wide range of hydrodynamic conditions, temperatures and concentrations. The results have confirmed the findings of other authors that mass transfer of the gaseous reactant to the catalyst surface also takes place through zones of liquid which are not effective during a physical process. However, they have also shown an influence of the temperature and concentration of the volatile liquid reactant never reported before. This effect has been qualitatively explained by assuming that the supply of the ethanol to liquid zones with a poor renewal occurs mainly by an evaporation—condensation process. Accordingly, the data were well correlated by the ratio between the partial pressures of ethanol and oxygen in the gas phase.