Modelling of citral hydrogenation kinetics on an Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst

The kinetics of citral hydrogenation in ethanol over an Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst was studied in a slurry reactor operating at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature range of 60-77°C. Citronellal was the primary reaction product, whereas the amounts of unsaturated alcohols were very minor. Citronellol was the dominating product, generated mainly through the hydrogenation of the carbonyl group of citronellal. Based on the experimental data, a kinetic model was developed for hydrogenation. The model comprises competitive and rapid adsorption steps as well as rate-determining hydrogenation steps. The mass transfer limitation of hydrogen was included in the mathematical model. The kinetic parameters and the mass transfer parameter of hydrogen were estimated from the experimental data. A comparison of the model predictions with the experimental data revealed that the proposed kinetic approach gave a satisfactory reproduction of the data.