Analysis of a catalytic annular reactor for very short contact times

A novel annular catalytic reactor was experimentally and theoretically char acterized. CO combustion was adopted as test reaction to probe the reactor behavior under chemical and under diffusion controlled regimes. It was foun d that mass transfer is sensitive to the eccentricity of the annular duct. The analysis evidenced that much higher space velocities and reaction tempe ratures, as well as better isothermal conditions can be guaranteed by the p resent annular reactor in comparison with standard fixed-bed reactors. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.