FREQUENCY-RESPONSE CHARACTERIZATION OF REACTION SYSTEMS - EXTERNAL RECYCLE REACTOR WITH A SOLID ADSORBENT

Frequency response techniques have been used to characterize an external recycle reactor. The amplitude ratio and phase shift of the sinusoidal composition variation between the reactor inlet and exit were determined from infrared measurements of gas-phase compositions. These quantities were then used to estimate physical and chemical parameters of the reaction system, such as the reactor volume, the recycle flow rate, the volume of solids in the reactor (α-Al2O3), the number of adsorption sites, and the adsorption and desorption rate constants. It was found that higher-precision parameter estimates resulted when the calculations were based on the amplitude ratios rather than the phase lags. © 1990.