Kinetic study of propane ODH on electrospun vanadium oxide-based submicron diameter fiber catalyst

A rigorous kinetic study of the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) reaction of propane on a vanadium oxide-based submicron diameter fiber catalyst has been developed. The proposed kinetic model simulates the conversion-selectivity profiles, the surface coverage of the different adsorbed species and the oxidation state of the catalyst for the studied operating conditions of temperature, space–time and inlet partial pressures of propane and oxygen. The activation energy of the rate determining step (RDS), the first hydrogen abstraction from propane, is 104 kJ·mol−1. The model predicts that although the reaction seems to be pseudo-zero order with respect to oxygen in a broad range of conditions, the catalyst may not be fully oxidized during reaction. The accuracy of the model when predicting the oxidation state of the catalyst has been experimentally confirmed by analyzing the catalytic fixed bed after reaction. The reduction degree of the catalyst will depend on its intrinsic chemical nature and reaction conditions, increasing with the space–time and in detriment of the overall reaction rate. Consequently, the propane turnover frequency (TOF) will also depend on the reaction conditions and space–time, even changing along the fixed-bed reactor.