A common practice in heterogeneous catalysis is the use of the catalyst in the form of

grains. It is sometimes assumed that the reacting fluid in the interior of the grains has a
composition equal to that of the grains has a composition equal to that of the bulk of the fluid
bathing the grain at the time. However, the size of the grains cannot be increased in definitely
reaching at point at which the reaction will yield product in the interior of the grains faster than
diffusion can carry the away. The reaction will then tend to be confined to the outer layer of the
grain, the interior being relatively inactive .
A mathematical analysis of the above problem was made by Thiele on the following
assumptions:
1. The fluid may be either liquid or gas but not a mixture of the two. Attention is fixed on an
individual portion of catalyst, bathed in a fluid of constant composition.
2. The temperature is assumed to be uniform throughout the grain.
3. The greater part of the surface available for reaction is assumed to be on the wall of the
pores in the catalyst. The actual external surface is assumed to be negligible in
comparison.
4. Diffusion through a surface film is very compared with diffusion into the grain interior.
5. The pores in the catalyst grain are interconnecting, and the diffusion of reacting gases and
products take place through this pores and not through the solid catalyst.
6. The largest pores need not be straight or around, but it is assumed that the ratio of the
periphery to the area of all cross section is constant for each pore and the same from pore
to pore. It is assumed that the length of the pores in pellets of different sizes is
proportional to the shorthest dimension of the grains.
7. There is no bulk flow through the catalyst grains, all transfer being by diffusion.
8. The reverse reaction rate is negligible.
Thiele treats various case, including various shape of pallets, first and second order
reactions, with or without change in volume on reaction. The essential features of the results of
all this cases are shown by the analysis for spherical pellets with a first order reaction and no
change in volume. Consider a spherical pellet of radius R surrounded by a binary gas mixture of
A and B. the molal density of A in this mixture is C
0.
Component A diffuses into the pores of the
catalyst and undergoes the reaction
AB
on the catalyst. The reaction rate in terms of moles of A reaction per unit time in proportional to
the catalyst surface area and the molal density of A at the surface. Define the effectiveness of the
catalyst pellet as the ratio of the actual reaction rate divided by the rate at which the reaction
would proceed if the molal density of A were C
0
everywhere inside

the pellet determine the
effectiveness as a function of catalyst pellet radius R and hydraulic radius of the pores in the
pellet.
Answer:
Aproduct and

Output input + reaksi = 0