Analytical theory of a heterogeneous thermocatalytic reactor

The concept of a heterogeneous thermocatalytic reactor was developed in greatest detail in the example case of the synthesis of KrF/sub 2/. In this case, the reactor is a long cylindrical vessel filled with gaseous fluorine and externally cooled by liquid nitrogen. The internal surface of the cylinder is coated with crystalline krypton. The thermocatalyst is a coaxial nickel wire spiral heated by an electric current to T approx. 800 to 900 K. The fluorine atoms formed as a result of the thermal dissociation of the F/sub 2/ molecules on the surface of the catalyst diffuse to the walls of the reactor, where they undergo the reaction 2F + Kr ..-->.. KrF/sub 2/. The authors describe the kinetics of the transfer of the F atoms from the hot catalyst to the cold walls of the reactor with the aid of a system of equations.