The Effect of Operational Parameters on the Catalytic Combustion of n-Butane/Air Mixtures on Platinum Wire

Abstract

The effect of mixture composition, total pressure and catalyst temperature on the kinetics of the catalytic combustion of n-butane/air or n-butane/oxygen mixtures on isothermally heated platinum wire is reported. The catalyst temperature was changed from 680 to 1,130 K for mixtures containing n-butane between 1 and 4.5% at total pressures between 10 and 100 kPa. The measurements allowed the determination of different kinetic properties like reaction rate, turnover frequency, overall and partial reaction orders and activation energy. The pressure dependence of the reaction rate offered the possibility to make a critical analysis of the kinetic equations frequently utilized in the literature.