Irreducible mass-transport limitations during a heterogeneously catalyzed gas-phase chain reaction: Oxidative coupling of methane

A heterogeneous reactor model was developed describing kinetic experiments on the heterogeneously catalyzed oxidative coupling of methane in a laboratory fixed-bed reactor. The catalyst produces radicals which react further through gas-phase reactions in the pores of the catalyst and in the interstitial phase. The reactor model accounts for the irreducible mass-transport limitations for the reactive radicals, which occur even at conditions where no mass-transport limitations occur for the molecules, both reactants and reaction products. The effects of these irreducible mass-transport limitations on the conversion and selectivity of the process were investigated and were found to be essential for an adequate description of experimental data.