Determination of kinetic parameters for complex heterogeneous catalytic reactions by numerical evaluation of TAP experiments

A numerical method is introduced for deriving kinetic parameters by evaluating responses to transient concentration inputs to a catalytic fixed-bed reactor under vacuum conditions (TAP). Complex reaction networks without restrictions regarding the number of reaction steps and the reaction orders are investigated. The method was successfully applied for the estimation of rate constants of parallel and consecutive surface reactions in the oxidative conversion of methane to syngas over a magnesia-supported Pt catalyst. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.