Reactions carried out under conditions close to the equilibrium vapour pressure of the participating species involve physisorption on the catalyst surface. Such conditions are encountered for propene metathesis over rhenium oxide/gamma-alumina catalyst at room temperature. The sorption-diffusion effects were tested by excluding effects due to reaction. Single-component sorption characteristics were determined by steady-state experiments. The model equations comprising several differential and nonlinear algebraic equations were solved by orthogonal collocation within the method of lines. The model predictions were tested against transient experiments performed in a gradientless, internal recirculation reactor.