The areal rate of liquid phase hydrogenation of cyclohexene on supported platinum catalysts does not depend on the nature of the support. Nor does it depend on particle size of the metal. The rate constant is independent of the nature of the solvent when the concentration of hydrogen in it is expressed as its measured or calculated solubility. All observations are compatible with the idea that the measured rate is that of chemisorption of dihydrogen on a metal surface covered with reactive hydrocarbon intermediates.
SCOPEThe effect of the dimensions of metallic particles on the catalytic activity of supported metals is of theoretical and practical importance. The present work was undertaken to examine the effect of platinum particle size on the liquid phase hydrogenation of cyclohexene in a rocking slurry reactor. The reaction was studied in a static system at constant hydrogen pressure, normally atmospheric pressure, between 275O and 316OK. As diffusion coefficients in the liquid phase are often two or more orders of magnitude lower than in the vapor phase, diffusional influence can play a substantial role in slurry reactors. It is thus imperative that reactions studied in slurry reactors be examined for diffusional effects and proof be given that observed rates have not been disguised by either intraparticle or interphase mass transport. We set out to obtain true kinetic data devoid of either the influence of transport phenomena or catalyst deactivation during an experimental run.The present study also focused on two important aspects of liquid phase reactions, When heterogeneous catalytic reactions are carried out in the gas phase, ideal gas behavior is ordinarily assumed. However, for kinetics in the liquid phase, as in a slurry or trickle bed reactor, it is necessary first of all to ascertain whether concentrations or activities of dissolved reactants should be used in rate expressions. Second, it is also important to check whether different solvents affect the reaction rate or the rate constant. The literature of catalytic reaction engineering offers few experimental or theoretical guidelines bearing on these two important questions.
CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCEKinetic data have been obtained for the liquid phase hydrogenation of cyclohexene on supported platinum catalysts in a rocking slurry reactor. First of all, values of the turnover frequency N , defined as molecules reacted per site per second, were obtained on catalysts containing different amounts of platinum of the same dispersion, defined as the ratio of surface metal atoms to total metal atoms. Values of N were found to be identical. As this re-
Page 904September, 1978 sult was obtained at two different temperatures, it offers sufficient proof that rates were not masked by artifacts such as the influence of interphase and intraparticle heat and mass transfer, or deactivation and poor contacting of the catalyst by reactants. The main result of this work is that values of N were identical on nine different supported platinum catalysts where the me...