Kinetics of nitrobenzene hydrogenation. I. Measurements on a laboratory integral reactor

Kinetics of nitrobenzene hydrogenation has been investigated with a laboratory integral reactor using both fresh and deactivated Cu-catalyst R 3-11 having the same particle size as that used in the industry. The dependences of the reaction rate on temperature and on the partial pressures of the reactants can be expressed by the equation r = 2.04 x 10/sup -5/ exp (-2150/T) p/sub NB/sup 0.8/.p/sub H//sup 0.84/ valid for the fresh catalyst; at least the reaction orders remain valid for the deactivated catalyst as well, but the activation energy changes with both the catalyst activity and temperature. The utilization of the inner surface decreases with advancing deactivation. It follows from the latter observation and also from the distribution of carbonaceous deposits in the deactivated catalyst that the deactivation proceeds predominantly in the pore openings.