International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies Advance Access published January 30, 2014

Calculations of effectiveness factors and the

criteria of mass transfer effect for hightemperature methanation (HTM) catalyst

..............................................................................................................................................................

Li-Jun Zhao* and Qi Sun

Coal Chemical Catalysis Center, National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy
(NICE), PO Box 001 Shenhua NICE, Future Science & Technology City, Changping
District, Beijing 102211, P. R. China

.............................................................................................................................................

Abstract

Keywords: high-temperature methanation; catalyst; effectiveness factor; synthetic natural gas

*Corresponding author.
zhaolijun@nicenergy.com

Received 11 June 2013; revised 29 December 2013; accepted 5 January 2014

................................................................................................................................................................................

1 INTRODUCTION
Natural gas, composed mainly of methane, is known as a quality
clean-and-low-carbon energy. However, natural gas is very limited
in many parts of the world [1]. With rapid urbanization and increasing living standard, the demand for natural gas is huge, and
the short supply will get even worse in future without unconventional input.
Coal reserves are abundant, and therefore coal to synthetic natural
gas (SNG) has been seriously considered as one of the solutions for
natural gas shortage. The H/C ratio in coal can be raised four to six
times higher by converting into natural gas. The total thermal efficiency for coal to SNG can be as high as 6265%, by comparison,
coal to oil is 4050% and coal to electricity is as low as 3638% [2].
The high efficiency of coal to SNG process reduces relatively the CO2
emission, and the CO2 gets highly concentrated in the process for
treatment or utilization. In addition, pollutants such as sulfur can be
reclaimed as useful byproducts in the coal to SNG process.

The high-temperature methanation (HTM) catalyst is crucial

for the modern coal to SNG industry, and is of much superior
hydrothermal stability at high temperatures to the conventional
methanation catalysts [3, 4]. Usually, there are two evaluation
processes applied. By comparison, the process for activity
change measurement has been regarded most favorable for the
evaluation of the HTM catalyst [4]. To apply the process, the
measurement conditions must be carefully defined. Only under
the conditions of the elimination of mass transfer effect, can
intrinsic reactions occur, and the measured reaction rates can be
used to quantify the activities of catalyst.
Mass transfer in porous catalysts has been of great interest for
a very long time, and the first papers appeared in the late 1930s
[5]. Due to the ubiquitous nature of mass transfer, the concentrations of reactants are always higher on the surfaces than in the
interior of catalyst particles. The effectiveness factor h has been
defined as the ratio of the real reaction rate of the catalyst particle to the imaginary reaction rate when the whole particle is

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2014, 0, 1 6

# The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which
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Natural gas is an extremely important bridge fuel to a low-carbon energy economy for improving local air
quality. Coal to synthetic natural gas (SNG) is an effective way to convert the high-carbon energy (coal)
into the low-carbon energy with rich hydrogen (natural gas). For the modern coal to SNG industry, the
high-temperature methanation (HTM) catalyst plays an important role, and the advanced evaluation
process should necessitate the elimination of mass transfer effect. Some simple but effective model
catalysts, such as slab and sphere, can be very helpful in defining the reaction conditions, and thus
facilitating the evaluation process for real HTM catalysts. In this work, slab and sphere model catalysts
were adopted to derive mass transfer and reaction-coupled equations, the numerical methods were used
to solve the coupled equations for the concentration profiles in catalysts, and the effectiveness factors were
accordingly calculated. By taking advantage of the Thiele module w and the Weisz Prater module F, the
criteria for the elimination of mass transfer effect in the HTM catalyst evaluation process were successfully
defined. This work also complements the Weisz Prater criterion by incorporating negative reaction
orders.

L.-J. Zhao and Q. Sun

2 CATALYST MODELS AND CALCULATION

METHODS
Catalyst models, mass transfer and reaction-coupled equations
and the solving methods and the equation for effectiveness factor
h calculations will be discussed successively in this section.

2.1 Slab and sphere catalyst models

The shapes of real catalysts are very complicated and can vary from
particles to particles. However, it was shown that some simple
model catalysts could be very effective in defining the reaction conditions for real catalysts [6, 7]. In fact, the WeiszPrater criterion has
been derived by assuming sphere model represents the general case
[8], because it was observed that the effectiveness factor responds
similarly to the change of Thiele module w for various catalyst
shapes [8]. The WeiszPrater criterion gives safe answers for mass
transfer effect without any knowledge of kinetics, and great success
has been achieved in many fields related to mass transfer, such as catalysis, chemical engineering and biochemistry [11]. Later, it was
shown that sphere and slab could be the two extremes in catalyst
shape [12], and numerous investigations were accordingly made for
the two models to give an insight into the real systems.
Therefore, it can be said that sphere and slab models represent the most reasonable choices for our study. For slab and
sphere catalysts, the concentration profiles are 1D, according to
Figure 1. For slab catalyst (left), the side far away from reactants
is denoted as the zero point (0), and the thickness is L. For
sphere catalyst (right), the center is denoted as the zero point
(0), and the diameter is R. The arrows in Figure 1 for slab and
sphere catalysts all point to directions for concentration increase,
and the concentration on catalyst surfaces is denoted as C0.
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Figure 1. Slab and sphere catalyst models with 1D concentration profile.

2.2 Mass transfer and reaction-coupled equations

Assuming the system is in an isothermal and steady state and the reaction follows a power order, the mass transfer and reaction-coupled
equations can be derived for slab and sphere catalysts [6, 7, 13].
Assuming further a concentration C for a position X in slab and
sphere catalysts, let y C/C0, x X/L (slab) X/R (sphere), x
and y can be taken into the coupled equations to obtain:
d2 y
w2 y n
dx2
d2 y 2 dy
w2 y n

dx2 x dx

slab
sphere

1
2

Constrained by slab and sphere catalyst models (1D), the boundary conditions for equations (1) and (2) are the same: x 0,
dy/dx 0; x 1, y 1. In addition, n is the power order, and
w is the Thiele module. For the slab and sphere catalysts, w can
be defined as
s
s
kv Csn1
kv Csn1
slab R
wL
sphere
3
De
De
In equation (3), De is the effective diffusion coefficient of reactant in catalysts, kv is the volumetric intrinsic reaction rate constant and Cs is the reactant concentration on surfaces.
The pores in the catalyst models can be of any shape, including the classical cylinder pore, which may lead to different De
values [7]. It has also to be said that the reaction kinetics of real
systems may be very complicated in the whole concentration
range, which cannot be fitted by the above simple power-order
kinetics. Nevertheless, the interested range is usually limited,
and the power order should still be accurate enough for practical
considerations [14].

2.3 Solution of equations and calculation of

effectiveness factors
For zero- and first-order reactions, analytic solutions have been
available by solving equations (1) and (2) [7, 13, 15]. However, for
fractional or negative orders, analytic solutions may not exist or
are hard to obtain. In such cases, numerical method is helpful.

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assumed to bathe in the surface reactant concentration [6, 7].

Numerous efforts have been directed to the approximate solution
of model catalyst systems for the effectiveness factor h changing
with complex reaction kinetics. In contrast, the WeiszPrater criterion, which was introduced in 1954 [8], has been widely applied
in reaction kinetics measurements since it dictates the conditions
for the elimination of mass transfer effect.
The Weisz Prater criterion has been derived by analyzing a
model catalyst with zero and positive reaction orders and by
using the general assumption for mass transfer elimination if
jhj  0:05 [8]. However, the methanation reaction has been
known to proceed via a negative order of 20.5 with respect to CO
in high concentrations [9, 10], for which the WeiszPrater criterion could not give definite answers for the mass transfer effect.
Therefore, detailed investigation, including positive to negative reaction orders, should be made of the effectiveness factor h in relation with the Thiele module w and the WeiszPrater module F, so
that the effect of mass transfer can be evaluated and eliminated in
the advanced evaluation process of activity change measurement
for the HTM catalyst.

Effectiveness factors and the criteria of mass transfer effect for HTM catalyst

Equations (1) and (2) should be properly modified for numerical solution by Matlab programming. In addition to equation
modifications, the Thiele module w should be varied stepwise to
calculate the corresponding concentration profile in catalysts.
With the concentration profile being known, the effectiveness
h can be obtained by equation (4) derived from the definition.
1

h y dx slab 3x2 yn dx sphere

0

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.2 Calculation of effectiveness factors for n 5 1.00

According to Figure 2, for slab catalysts with n 0 and 1.00, and

by varying the Thiele module w in an order of magnitude, the

With the concentration profiles obtained by Matlab programming,

equation (4) can be used to calculate effectiveness factors. In
Figure 3, the numerical solution points of effectiveness factors for
n 1.00 were displayed, as well as the analytic solution curves. The
perfect coincidence between the two solutions can be observed.
For the same effectiveness factor h, it has been found that the
Thiele module w for sphere catalysts is about three times that for
slab catalysts [7, 16]. By multiplying the Thiele module w with
1/3, it is apparent that the h w/3 curve for sphere catalysts
moves close to the h w curve for slab catalyst. The biggest
difference occur at about w 1.
As discussed in above, for slab and sphere catalysts, the numerical solutions are in good agreement with the analytic solutions with regard to concentration profiles and effectiveness
factors. These results validate the numerical method of Matlab

Figure 2. Comparisons of analytic and numerical solutions for the reactant

concentration profiles in slab catalysts with n 0 and 1.00. Analytic solution
curves are drawn by thin lines, and numerical solution points are given by open
circles, which fall exactly on the thin lines.

Figure 3. Comparisons of the effectiveness factor h as a function of the Thiele

module w for slab and sphere catalysts with n 1.00. Analytic solution curves
are drawn by thin lines, and numerical solution points are given by open circles,
which fall exactly on the thin lines. The h w/3 curve for sphere catalysts is close
to the h w curve for slab catalysts.

3.1 Concentration profile in catalysts for n 5 0 and

1.00

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By applying Matlab programming to equations (1) and (2), the

concentration profiles in slab and sphere catalysts were firstly
obtained for zero- and first-order reactions. Equation (4) was
used to calculate the effectiveness factors for first-order reaction.
Calculation were then extended to more orders of 0, +0.25,
+0.50, +0.75, +1.00, +1.50, +2.00 and +3.00 for equations (1) and (2), and by varying Thiele module w, the concentration profiles in catalysts were obtained and the corresponding
effectiveness factors were calculated. The criteria for mass transfer effect were finally defined by using the Thiele module w and
the Weisz Prater module F.

numerical solution points of equation (1) obtained by Matlab

programming are located precisely on the analytic solution
curves [7, 15].
This shows Matlab programming is nicely fit for slab catalyst
model, and the perfect superposition of two solutions indicates
the method can generate accurate results for the n orders outside
0 1.00, and the Thiele module w varying in greater range.
Similar observations for analytic and numerical solutions
have also been made of sphere catalysts with n 0 and 1.00 (not
shown). These results indicate Matlab programming can indeed
provide reliable numerical results for the concentration profiles in
slab and sphere catalysts, even if analytic solutions do not exist for
equation (1) and (2), or the analytic solutions are hard to obtain.

L.-J. Zhao and Q. Sun

programming for the solution of mass transfer and reactioncoupled equations (1) and (2), and equation (4) for effectiveness
factor calculations.

3.3 Mass transfer criteria derived from the Thiele

module

3.4 Mass transfer criteria derived from the

Weisz Prater module
According to the definition, to calculate w for the evaluation of
mass transfer effect, the volumetric intrinsic reaction rate constant kv has to be known. However, kv is desired in a study of
intrinsic reaction kinetics, which requires the elimination of
mass transfer effect. Under such circumstance, the Thiele
module criteria are not fit for a proper evaluation of mass transfer effect. Due to this difficulty, Weisz and Prater developed the
module F [6, 7, 11, 14, 16].
F <v

Figure 4. The effectiveness factor h as a function of the Thiele module w for

slab and sphere catalysts.

L2
R2
slab <v
sphere
C s De
Cs De

In equation (5), <v is the real volumetric reaction rate, all

other parameters being the same as discussed in above. In contrast to the Thiele module w, the Weisz Prater module F precludes the utilization of volumetric intrinsic reaction rate
constant kv, and can be directly calculated from the experimental observables.

Table 1. The intersection w values between the h w curves and the lines h 0.95 and h 1.05 in Figure 4.
Power order, n
Slab
h 0.95
h 1.05
Sphere
h 0.95
h 1.05

3.00

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25

0.23

0.28

0.33

0.40

0.45

0.55

0.76

1.49

0.52

0.64

0.75

0.89

1.02

1.24

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1.70

20.25

20.50

20.75

21.00

21.50

22.00

23.00

0.70

0.51

0.42

0.37

0.30

0.26

0.21

1.53

1.12

0.92

0.81

0.66

0.57

0.48

2.91

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According to Figure 3, the effectiveness factor h is a function of

the Thiele module w that is clearly defined in equation (3),
which has been previously investigated for the effect of mass
transfer [7]. For the heterogeneous systems with known constants to define the Thiele module w, the effectiveness factor h
can be obtained by calculating the Thiele module w and then referring to the h w curve.
By using the catalyst models and the numerical methods in
this work and by varying the Thiele module w, the concentration
profiles were obtained and the effectiveness factors calculated for
the reactions with orders of 0, +0.25, +0.50, +0.75, +1.00,
+1.50, +2.00 and +3.00. According to Figure 4, the h w
curves for positive and negative curves are not very symmetrical
with respect to the line h 1. By comparison, the h w curves for
the reactions with negative orders change much more rapidly with
the increase of w. Reactions with a zero order can retain h 1 for a
wide range of w. In particular, the region for jh  1j  0:05 should

get more attention, because the mass transfer effect can be neglected
due to the small variations of h.
The intersection w values in Figure 4 between the h w curves
and the lines h 0.95 and h 1.05 are summarized in Table 1.
According to Figure 4 and Table 1, for the reactions with nonnegative power orders, the mass transfer effect cannot be
neglected for w bigger than 1.49 and 2.91 for slab and sphere
catalysts, respectively, and can be neglected for w smaller than
0.28 and 0.64 for the reactions with a second-order kinetics.
For the reactions approximated by a third-order kinetics, w is
lowered further to 0.23 and 0.52 to eliminate the mass transfer
effect.
Till now, few investigations of mass transfer effect have been
made for the reactions with negative orders, and the results in
this work can be applied in the evaluation of the HTM catalyst.
According to Figure 4 and Table 1, for the methanation reaction
with a negative order of 20.5 with respect to CO in high concentrations, the corresponding w values for mass transfer negligence are 0.51 and 1.12 for slab and sphere catalysts, respectively.
The effect of mass transfer on the reactions with negative orders
other than 20.5 can be evaluated in terms of w according to
Figure 4 and Table 1.

Effectiveness factors and the criteria of mass transfer effect for HTM catalyst

Generally, for the reactions with power orders, it can be

proved:
F w2 h

Figure 5. The effectiveness factor h as a function of the Weisz Prater module

F for slab and sphere catalysts.

4 CONCLUSIONS
Natural gas is highly desired as a clean-and-low-carbon energy
in this world for environmental protections, and coal to SNG
can add to the limited natural gas supply. The modern coal to
SNG industry highlights the role of the HTM catalyst, for which
the mass transfer effect has to be eliminated in the advanced
evaluation process.
The Weisz Prater criterion has been derived by considering
only zero and positive reaction orders. Because the methanation reaction has been known to proceed via a negative order
of 20.5 with respect to CO in high concentrations, the criterion could not give definite answers for the mass transfer effect
in the HTM catalyst evaluation, which has to be dealt with in
this work.
By using slab and sphere catalyst models, numerical method,
the Thiele module w and the Weisz Prater module F, the mass
transfer effect has been investigated in detail. For the methanation reaction with high CO concentrations, it has been found to
eliminate the mass transfer effect, the Thiele module w should be
smaller than 0.51 and 1.12, and the Weisz Prater module F
should be smaller than 0.27 and 1.31 for slab and sphere catalysts, respectively.
While providing definite answers for the HTM catalyst evaluation, this work has also complemented the Weisz Prater criterion by incorporating negative reaction orders. A complete
criterion for the elimination of mass transfer effect is helpful for
developing experiments for catalyst evaluation and kinetics
study.

Table 2. The intersection F values between the h F curves and the lines h 0.95 and h 1.05 in Figure 5.
power order, n
Slab
h 0.95
h 1.05
Sphere
h 0.95
h 1.05

3.00

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25

0.05

0.08

0.10

0.15

0.19

0.28

0.55

2.11

0.26

0.39

0.52

0.76

1.00

1.50

2.75

20.25

20.50

20.75

21.00

21.50

22.00

23.00

0.51

0.27

0.18

0.14

0.09

0.07

0.05

2.47

1.31

0.89

0.68

0.47

0.34

0.24

8.06

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As a result, for the reactions with orders of 0, +0.25, +0.50,

+0.75, +1.00, +1.50, +2.00 and +3.00, equation (6) can
be used to calculate effectiveness factor h as a function of
Weisz Prater module F, and the results are given in Figure 5
for slab and sphere catalysts. Similar patterns like those in
Figure 4 can also be observed, the h F curves are not symmetrical with respect to the line h 1, and the h values for
the reactions with negative orders change more rapidly with
the increase of F than the reactions with positive orders.
The intersection F values in Figure 5 between the h F curves
and the lines h 0.95 and h 1.05 are summarized in Table 2.
According to Figure 5 and Table 2, for the reactions with nonnegative power orders, the mass transfer effect cannot be neglected
for F bigger than 2.11 and 8.06 for slab and sphere catalysts, respectively, and can be neglected for w smaller than 0.08 and 0.39
for the reactions fitted by a second-order kinetics. For the reactions approximated by a third-order kinetics, F is further lowered
to 0.05 and 0.26 to eliminate the mass transfer effect. These calculations are consistent with the WeiszPrater criterion [8].

As discussed in above, the Weisz Prater module F should be

much more conveniently applied than the Thiele module w in
the evaluation of the HTM catalyst, because it requires only the
input of the real volumetric reaction rate <v ; instead of the volumetric intrinsic reaction rate constant kv, which needs to be
known in advance. According to Figure 5 and Table 2, for the
methanation reaction with a negative order of 20.5 with respect
to CO in high concentrations, the corresponding F values for
mass transfer negligence are 0.27 and 1.31 for slab and sphere
catalysts, respectively. The effect of mass transfer on the reactions
with negative orders other than 20.5 can be evaluated in terms
of F according to Figure 5 and Table 2.

L.-J. Zhao and Q. Sun

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the China Shenhua Group Science
and Technology Innovation Foundation projects (ST930012SH08,
MZY-5), as well as the MOST 863 project (2012AA06A115).

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