Conservatively perturbed equilibrium in multi-route catalytic reactions

Abstract

The phenomenon of conservatively perturbed-equilibrium (CPE) in multi-route catalytic reactions was studied in the plug-flow reactor (PFR). The following multi-route mechanisms were chosen for studying, i.e., the two-route mechanism with the single common intermediate, the three-route mechanism with some common steps, and the two-route mechanism with the single common step and two common intermediates. All mentioned mechanisms exhibit the CPE-phenomenon. At given rate coefficients, the mechanism with the single common intermediate showed the greater CPE-effect than the mechanism with the common steps. A special computer experiment was performed in which the kinetic characteristics of non-catalytic and catalytic reactions have been compared. In this experiment, both non-catalytic and catalytic reactions have the same overall-reactions with the given equilibrium constant. It was shown that the absolute values of extreme concentrations at the CPE-point are almost the same. In this case, it is possible to estimate the concentrations at the CPE-values for complex reactions based on similar characteristics of the corresponding simple ones.