aDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, 333031, India.
bReaction Engineering Laboratory, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, 500007, India.
*Correspondence author E-mail: kvraghavan_iict@yahoo.co.in
Nitration of toluene in the presence of H-Beta zeolite catalyst has been investigated by us in our earlier works with reference to the vital role played by HNO3-toluene dispersion morphology in promoting the para-selectivity. The catalyst characterization studies of the process have also been done to establish the stability of the catalyst. In the present work, kinetic studies of the system have been undertaken to identify the rate controlling mechanism after estimating various dispersion related parameters like sauter mean diameter, interfacial area and phase inversion point. A multiphase transport model has been formulated to represent the liquid-liquid-solid reaction system and the marginal role played by the external and internal mass transfer resistances has been established. The kinetic parameters of specific reaction rate and the activation energy have been estimated experimentally.
Dispersion, Multiphase transport, Apparent reaction kinetics, Rate controlling mechanism
