Pore diffusion in silver catalysts

Diffusion rates were measured at atmospheric pressure and room temperature for helium and nitrogen in pelleted silver catalysts. Pellets were prepared from three silver salts giving different micropore characteristics. The data showed that the diffusion was of the bulk type and that the micropores had no effect, indicating that mass transfer was predominantly in the macropore region. For each kind of material data were obtained for five pellet densities corresponding to macropore volume fractions from 0 up to 0.7. Effective diffusivities and labyrinth factors ψ were evaluated and found to increase with macropore porosity. The linear relationship between ψ and void fraction proposed by Buckingham for diffusion through soils fitted the data at high void fractions. A generalized form of the Maxwell equation containing three constants was derived. A single‐constant form of this expression agreed reasonably well with the measured results over the entire range of macropore volume fraction.