Heavy paraffin dehydrogenation and hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline: Effects of operating conditions

Auto-thermal heat exchanger configurations are recognized as a novel concept in process intensification. In the current study, the influence of operating conditions in a novel coupling reactor with radial-flow pattern is investigated for heavy paraffin dehydrogenation process. Catalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline takes place in the exothermic side and supplies the necessary heat for the endothermic dehydrogenation of heavy paraffin reaction. The performance of the reactor is numerically investigated for various key operating variables, such as inlet molar flow rates of exothermic and endothermic streams, number of subsections, and exothermic side angle. The reactor performance is analyzed based on temperature, olefin production rate, and nitrobenzene conversion.     

Simultaneous heavy paraffin dehydrogenation and hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in a linear alkyl benzene plant

In the current study, a novel thermally coupled reactor with radial-flow pattern named as Radial Flow-Coupling Reactor (RF-CR) is modeled for heavy paraffin dehydrogenation. In this novel structure, the cross-section area of the Radial Flow-Tubular Reactor is sliced into some subsections. The necessary heat for heavy paraffin dehydrogenation in the endothermic side is supplied by the catalytic nitrobenzene hydrogenation in the exothermic side. The results of modeling represent 12.4 tons per day enhancement in the olefin production rate in comparison with non-coupling configuration using the same catalyst loading and duty. Besides, aniline as an additional valuable product is produced ～17.45 tons per day in exothermic side of RF-CR.