A reaction kinetic model for the fluorination of plasma dissociated zircon
(PDZ, pr ZrO2.SiO2) with hydrogen fluoride was developed. The model uses re
action as rate-limiting step, with a shrinking core of PDZ in a porous matr
ix of zirconia (ZrO2).: This model was used to develop models for a multi-s
tage fluidized bed reactor. These models facilitated the determination and
design of an optimally configured multi-stage fluidized bed reactor for the
fluorination of PDZ. It was shown that a combination cross-/countercurrent
multi-stage fluidized bed reactor could yield significant improvement over
the conventional countercurrent multi-stage fluidized bed reactor for cert
ain reaction kinetic conditions.