HISTORY

               Cottrell first proposed the Reverse flow reactor concept for the removal of pollutants.

            Performance of a catalytic reactors may be increased by their operation under transient conditions. It has been shown in literature that cycling of the operating parameters may cause an increase of reactor output compared with that obtained under steady state conditions.

           The efficiency of the transition from steady to unsteady operation can be stipulated  by two major factors:

1). Influence of changing with time conditions of the process operation on observed catalyst characteristics;

2).Dynamic properties of reactor as a whole unit.

          Boreskov and Matros(1983) described the behavior of a catalytic tubular reactor under transient conditions forced by the cyclic reversals of gas flow. The  SO₂   Was oxidized to  SO₃   over a   V₂O₅  Catalyst. The authors found experimentally and numerically that the final conversion increases when the reactor is operated periodic reverse flow condition.