Modeling the precipitation distribution by radius and pore size during drying of an impregnated sphere

The process of preparing heterogeneous catalysts on porous supports includes a drying stage, in which the porous material, impregnated with an aqueous solution of the catalyst precursor, is dried, and the precursor is precipitated on the pore walls. The precipitate distribution throughout the support volume strongly influences the catalyst performance and durability within industrial reactors. This paper presents a mathematical model for simulating the precipitation distribution during the drying of a porous sphere. Examples of calculations are given demonstrating the influence of some parameters on the distribution by space and by pore size.17