A preliminary study on the effect of temperature and carbon deposit on the reactivity of alumina during hydrocarbon oxidation

The oxidation of hydrocarbon with oxygen on alumina catalyst over a range of temperatures was studied by using a flow reactor system equipped with a locally fabricated gas chromatogaphy apparatus. A saturator was integrated into the set-up in order to convert the liquid hydrocarbon into vapor phase. The flowrate of the hydrocarbon within its safety explosion limit was carefully determined. Temperatures ranged from 500-750 degree Celsius.From the study, it was learned that the reactivity values of the three hydrocarbons, methanol, toluene and hexane, increase as temperature increased. Carbon deposits lessen the active site of the catalytic surface, and therefore cause a lower conversion of the hydrocarbon. A reaction having enough oxygen will give a reactivity that increases as temperature is increased. This would also favor the formation of more carbon dioxide. However, if a reaction takes place having less than the theoretical oxygen, the shortage of oxygen will cause the formation of more carbon monoxide which will result into more carbon deposits. Therefore, it would increase the reactivity value