Mass-transfer-limited wet oxidation of phenol

The hydrodynamics and the mass-transfer impact of the three-phase trickle-b ed reactor performance in an environmental application of phenol catalytic wet oxidation is described. The activities of both the CuO-supported cataly st and the extruded active carbon were compared. To avoid liquid maldistrib ution, also the bed of catalyst particles with void fraction diluted by fin e glass spheres was used. Under the conditions of the gas component transfe r limitation, a better wetting of the catalyst can lead to the worse reacto r performance due to lower reaction rates.