Question

The activity of a catalyst at a time t = 0 is ____

(a) Negative

(b) Zero

(c) Unity

(d) ∞

This question was addressed to me by my college director while I was bunking the class.

I'd like to ask this question from Mechanisms of Catalyst Deactivation topic in chapter Suspended Solid Reactors, Catalyst Deactivation, Diffusion and Reaction of Chemical Reaction Engineering

Answer 1

The correct option is (c) Unity

The best explanation: When the reaction has not yet started to occur, the catalyst surface is not poisoned. The entire surface on the catalyst is available to promote the reaction. At a time t=0, the activity is the highest and equal to 1. The value of ‘a’ lies between 0 and 1 as ‘a’ is the ratio of rate of reaction achieved by the catalyst at any given time to the maximum rate that can be achieved by a fresh catalyst.