Modeling for the catalytic coupling reaction of carbon monoxide to diethyl oxalate in fixed-bed reactors: Reactor model and its applications

► We present a model to describe the fixed-bed reactor for CO coupling reaction. ► We incorporate a kinetic model and consider side reaction in the 2D model. ► We test the model by the measured data from different-scale processes. ► We predict the effects of major operation parameters on the reactor behavior. ► We find that the coolant temperature is the most sensitive parameter.