Effectiveness* factors* for* thin* disks* (adapted* from* problem* 18B.

14* of* BSL* 2nd*

Edition).! Consider! porous! catalyst! particles! in! the! shape! of! thin! disks! (see! the! figure!
below).!The!heterogenous!reaction!occurring!on!the!catalyst!surface!can!be!modeled!using!
an!effective!rate!constant! ke,A = ks,A a !( ks,A !is!the!surface!reaction!rate!constant!and! a !is!the!
surface! area! per! unit! volume! in! the! catalyst)! and! the! diffusivity! of! the! reactants! and!
products! through! the! tortuous! porous! network! can! be! modeled! using! an! effective!
diffusivity.!!

!
a) Assuming!that!the!catalyst!particles!are!immersed!in!a!fluid!containing!the!reactant!A!at!
a!concentration! C0 ,!obtain!expressions!for!the!steady@state!concentration!profile!inside!
the!catalyst!particles!and!for!the!net!rate!of!consumption!of!A,! WA ,!for!a!given!catalyst!
particle.!In!your!expression!use!the!dynamic!length! = ke / DA .!
b) Obtain!an!expression!for!the!net!rate!of!consumption!of!A,! WA( n ) ,!if!a!disk!is!cut!into!n#
slices! perpendicular! to! its! axis.! Use! this! expression! and! the! following! definition! to!
obtain! the! effectiveness! factor! for! a! disk! shaped! catalyst! particle!
W
A = lim (An ) !!
!
n W
A
Express! this! result! in! terms! of! the! parameter!
!

Vp
=
Sp

k e Vp
,! the! so@called!
DA S p

generalized!modulus.!

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Heat%conduction%in%a%nuclear%fuel%rod%assembly%(adapted%from%problem%10B.3%from%
BSL%2nd%Ed).!Consider!a!long!cylindrical!nuclear!fuel!rod,!surrounded!by!an!annular!layer!of!
aluminum! cladding.! Within! the! fuel! rod! heat! is! produced! by! fission;! this! heat! source!
depends!on!position!approximately!as!
2

r
Sn = Sn0 1+ b !!
!
RF

Here! S n0 !and! b !are!known!constants,!and! r !is!the!radial!coordinate.!Obtain!expressions!for!

the!temperature!profiles!in!the!fuel!rod!and!cladding,!the!maximum!temperature,!and!the!
rate! of! energy! removal! from! the! fuel! rod! if! the! outer! surface! of! the! cladding! is! in! contact!
with! a! liquid! coolant! at! temperature! TL .! The! heat! transfer! coefficient! at! the! claddingB
coolant!interface!is! hL ,!and!the!thermal!conductivities!of!the!fuel!rod!and!cladding!are! k F !
and! kC .! Use! RC !and! RF !for! the! radii! at! the! surface! of! the! cladding! and! fuel! rod,!
respectively.!

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