Dong, YingYingDongKeil, FrerichFrerichKeilKorup, OliverOliverKorupRosowski, FrankFrankRosowskiHorn, RaimundRaimundHorn2020-04-282020-04-282016-03-13Chemical Engineering Science (142): 299-309 (2016-03-13)http://hdl.handle.net/11420/5926The effect of catalyst pore structure on n-butane oxidation to maleic anhydride in a fixed-bed reactor was investigated by numerical simulations. The micro- and macro- pore model of Wakao and Smith was applied to model the diffusion-reaction inside the catalyst pellet. The studied pore structure parameters were macro-pore porosity, mean macro-pore diameter and mean micro- pore diameter. A fixed-bed reactor was simulated with a detailed two-dimensional heterogeneous model under typical industrial conditions. Simulation results have demonstrated that the reactor performance is sensitive to the chosen pore structure parameters especially macro-pore porosity and mean micro-pore diameter. A bi-modal catalyst pellet with bigger macro-pores and smaller micro-pores is favored to achieve higher yields of maleic anhydride. This work highlights the potential of improving this process by pore structure optimization.en0009-2509Chemical engineering science2016299309Fixed-bed reactorHeterogeneous modelModel of Wakao and SmithN-Butane oxidationPore structureVPP catalystEffect of the catalyst pore structure on fixed-bed reactor performance of partial oxidation of n-butane: A simulation studyJournal Article10.1016/j.ces.2015.12.004Other