Modeling of Catalyst Deactivation in Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation of Phenol in Fixed Bed Three-Phase Reactor

Modeling and simulation of fixed bed three-phase catalytic reactors are considered for wet air catalytic oxidation of phenol to perform a comparative numerical analysis between tricklebed and packed-bubble column reactors. The modeling involves material balances both for the catalyst particle as well as for different fluid phases. Catalyst deactivation is also considered in a transient reactor model to investigate the effects of various parameters including reactor temperature on catalyst deactivation. The simulation results indicated that packed-bubble columns were slightly superior in performance than trickle beds. It was also found that reaction temperature was the most effective parameter in catalyst deactivation.

Authors:

• Akram Golestani
• Mohammad Kazemeini
• Farhad Khorasheh
• Moslem Fattahi

Keywords:

• Catalyst deactivation
• Catalytic wet air oxidation
• Trickle-bed
• Wastewater.

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