PROX Closeup
Closeup of the preferential oxidation (PROX) reactor. The reactant feed line is looped around the top of the reactor to preheat the feed. It is then fed to the bottom of the reactor and through a bed of catalyst supported by a quartz wool plug. The top tee on the reactor has a thermocouple and exit gas line sent to the gas chromatograph. We typically use graphite ferrules and can drill multiple holes for several reactant/product lines and/or thermocouples. The back pressure regulator (upper right corner) is used to maintain a pressure balance between the exhaust and sample lines.