Microkinetic Model Construction as a Route towards a Better Understanding of Chemical Processes

Kinetic models can significantly differ in level of complexity, ranging from power laws that merely describe the feed conversion to microkinetic models accounting for all elementary steps in the reaction mechanism. While the former type of models can readily be validated against a limited experimental dataset, the construction of microkinetic ones requires a much more pronounced effort. They come, however, with the advantage of more trustworthy extrapolations beyond the range of experimental conditions against which they were trained. Apart from the microkinetic model by itself, the fundamental insights acquired during its construction may even represent the most valuable asset.