Kinetics of the Hopcalite‐catalyzed oxidation of carbon monoxide

Abstract The oxidation of carbon monoxide with Hopcalite catalyst was studied in an isothermal recycling reactor with special attention paid to the changes of gas phase compositions with time. Conversion‐time data exhibit significant departures from first‐order behavior often ascribed to this reaction. In early stages the reaction rate declines more rapidly than would a first‐order reaction; later the reverse is true. A mechanism, based on careful analyses of the literature and of our observations, is proposed. A kinetic model based on this mechanism is shown to reproduce the data of any run satisfactorily, but there is a considerable variation in values of the constants from run to run.