MODELLING THE DEACTIVATION KINETICS OF CYCLOHEXANE DEHYDROGENATION ON PLATINUM/ALUMINA CATALYST

Two reaction deactivation kinetic models of the deactivation of cyclohexane on platinum/alumina catalyst have been proposed based on the coking mechanism of Corella and Asua and the reaction mechanism of Susu el al. The difference in the models was in the number of active sites participating in the coking reaction represented by h with h = 1 in model 1 and h ≠ 1 in model 2. The models were dynamic models and parameter estimates were carried out by a method that did not require decoupling of the main from the coking reaction. The model formulation has made possible the estimation of the level of residual activity by the incorporation of a factor, ƒ, that represents incomplete deactivation. For the deactivation kinetic data studied, a high value of ƒ; was obtained indicating a low residual activity. The models were found to give a good fit with the data. The standard deviation of the models from experimental were 10.21 % for model 1 (h ≠ 1) and 12.63% for model 2 (h ≠ 1), None of the models is superior to the other, though for having a lower standard deviation model I is better. It is therefore appropriate to propose that deactivation by coking in this work occurred preferably by a single site mechanism of the rate controlling step of the coking reaction.