Gas diffusion in Bi-disperse porous catalyst pellets

A flux equation of diffusion for bi-disperse porous catalyst pellets was proposed by modifying the previously developed model equation over fractal trajectories. The proposed fractal model equation considered the same tortuous degree for both micro-and macro-pores. The experimental data of diffusion over a bi-disperse Ni/gamma-alumina pellet were obtained with a standard Wicke-Kallenbach diffusion cell for both carbon monoxide-ethylene and carbon dioxide-ethylene binary mixtures. The fitting between experimental results and the fractal model equation leads to a fractal dimension of 1.11. The prediction of diffusion flux over the bi-disperse Ni/gamma-alumina pellet by the proposed fractal model equation is much better than the traditional tortuosity-based model equation by comparison with the measured flux through the pellet.