Kinetics of catalytic ethane hydrogenolysis: Stirred reactor study of commercial nickel catalyst

The kinetics of ethane hydrogenolysis catalyzed by a commercial 58% nickel‐on‐kieselguhr catalyst were studied at 1 atm. and from 220° to 250°C. The kinetic data could be fit by a simple power rate equation that is a limiting case of a more general equation. The reaction rate of ethane was first order with respect to ethane and —2 order with respect to hydrogen. A possible reaction mechanism is discussed. The apparent activation energy was 46.4 kcal. Ethane/hydrogen ratios as high as 1:1 were studied without catalyst deactivation. Kinetic data were obtained in a novel stirred‐tank catalytic reactor.