Kinetics of and catalyst decay accompanying the gas phase rearrangement of cyclohexanone‐oxime over a hy ultrastable zeolite

The kinetics of the rearrangement of cyclohexanone‐oxime has been studied in a fixed bed, glass tubular reactor at atmospheric pressure and temperatures of 240, 270, 300 and 335°C, using ultrastable HY zeolite catalyst. Several kinetic models, including the Langmuir‐Hinshelwood type, have been derived and the best statistical fit has been obtained with a pseudo‐first order kinetic equation. The rate constants and activation energies for the formation of the products caprolactam, cyclohexanone and 5‐cyanopent‐l‐ene have been calculated. Based on the evolution of the selectivity with temperature, and the I.R. spectra of the poisoned catalyst, different decay models have been deduced and discussed.