The role of mass transfer in trickle‐bed reactors

Steady state characteristics of a trickle‐bed reactor in which the gas solute governs the reaction with linear kinetics are analyzed. The efficiency of the reactor is defined as the ratio of the actual production rate to the intrinsic reaction rate and the dependence of the efficiency on Damkohler number and Peclet number is investigated. Three sets of published experimental data are used to evaluate the efficiency. Also, the criterion for negligible axial dispersion is studied in comparison with Mears' criterion.