ABSTRACT
The objective of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the field of reaction kinetics. Firstly, different types of reactions are presented, such as elementary, simple, reversible, non-elementary, and complex systems. Secondly, this chapter demonstrates the analysis of experimental data in order to obtain the reaction kinetics expressions. It presents the use of simple approaches like the differential and integration methodologies that are suitable for non-complex problems. For multiple reactions, more complex methodologies are introduced, that use the Marquardt algorithm (see Chapter 4 for a complete description of the problem and its solution). These methodologies are studied for homogenous and heterogenous reactions; the latter refers to reactions that take place in different phases, usually with catalysts in solid phase. Thirdly, for heterogenous reactions, it is important to understand and know the lifespan of a catalyst before its performance decays considerably. Therefore, the concept of catalyst deactivation has been introduced to quantify such a decrease in the catalyst performance. Finally, the porosity in solid catalysts can induce internal and external mass transfer limitations which could have a significant influence on the reaction as well as lead to an incorrect reaction rate expression. Therefore, this chapter introduces how to quantify and take such limitations into consideration to properly evaluate their effect.
