Answer to Question #245395 in Chemical Engineering for Yash

Question

The hydrodesulfurization reaction to convert benzothiophene into ethylbenzene
with a cobalt-molybdenum catalyst supported on alumina is
given
In past research studies, the proposed reaction has been run in the vapour phase
with reactor temperature of 240-300 oC, total pressures of 2-30 atm, and
hydrogen to benzothiophene feed ratio of 4:1 to 9:1. These experiments resulted
in the following reaction rate equation:

Answer 1

The second factor that becomes important in reactions of substituted benzenes concerns the site at which electrophilic substitution occurs. Since a mono-substituted benzene ring has two equivalent ortho-sites, two equivalent meta-sites and a unique para-site, three possible constitutional isomers may be formed in such a substitution.These reactions involve various steps including hydrogenation and carbon-heteroatom bond cleavage, in which both hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide can play a role. To identify the mechanisms of these reactions, the process of adsorption (and of activation) of H2 and of H 2 S must be well understood.