Advantages of Forced Non‐steady Operated Trickle‐Bed Reactors

Trickle‐bed reactors are usually operated in the steady state trickle flow regime. Uneven liquid distribution and the formation of hot spots are the most serious problems experienced during trickle flow operation. In this paper, we advocate the use of non‐steady state operation of trickle‐bed reactors. Based on a square‐wave cycled liquid feed, several operation modes are developed that involve the artificial induction of natural pulses and control of the catalyst wetting efficiency over longer times. The operation modes aim at increasing the mass transfer rate of the limiting reactant and simultaneous prevention of flow maldistribution and hot spot formation. The operation modes are distinguished by a relatively fast and slow cycling of the liquid feed. The potential advantages of the developed feed strategies on reactor performance are evaluated.     

Volumetric Mass Transfer Coefficient of Oxygen in An Internal Loop Airlift Reactor with a Convergence‐Divergence Draft Tube

Experimental measurements of hydrodynamics and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient of oxygen (VMTCO) in an internal loop airlift reactor with different types of draft tubes are reported for the two‐phase systems, air/water and air/carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) solution, and a three‐phase system, air/water/resin particle, respectively. The properties of convergence‐divergence draft tubes with three different structural parameters are compared with those of the conventional column draft tube. The results indicate that gas holdups in convergence‐divergence draft tubes are higher than those in conventional draft tubes, the volumetric mass transfer coefficient of oxygen increases with increasing superficial air flow rates. The convergence‐divergence draft tubes all show higher mass transfer capacity than the traditional ones. A 10% higher mass transfer coefficient is observed for the three structural parameters. In the air/CMC system, the volumetric mass transfer coefficient of oxygen decreases with increasing bulk viscosity, while in the three‐phase system VMTCO increases with the resin particle loading. The correlation equation of the volumetric mass transfer coefficient with the operating conditions and structural parameters is established.     

Hydrodynamics in an Internal Loop Airlift Reactor with a Convergence‐Divergence Draft Tube

Gas holdup and liquid circulation of one conventional draft tube and three different convergence‐divergence draft tubes in an internal loop airlift reactor were investigated. Experiments were carried out in two‐phase systems with air‐water and air‐CMC (carboxyl methyl cellulose) solution and three‐phase system with air‐water‐resin particles. The two‐phase drift‐flux model was used to estimate gas holdup for three‐phase Newtonian and two‐phase non‐Newtonian systems. It is shown that gas holdup in convergence‐divergence draft tubes is higher than that in a conventional draft tube and increases with superficial gas velocity. Variation of the structural parameters of convergence‐divergence draft tubes has little effect on gas holdup in the two‐phase and three‐phase system. The mathematical model, which is based on a drift‐flux model, was developed to describe the liquid circulation velocity in the reactor satisfactorily.     

A Novel Approach for the Determination of Mechanical Stresses in Gas‐Liquid Reactors

A new method for the determination of mechanical stresses in two‐phase reactors is described. The time‐dependent disintegration kinetics of a clay‐floc system are measured with a laser scanning microscope. By describing the flocs employing fractal geometry and by transforming the disintegration kinetics according to a multifractal‐approach for turbulent flow fields, effective stresses can be calculated for bubble columns in two‐phase operation mode by comparison to the mechanical stress in a turbulent single‐phase couette flow. Results are given for stresses measured in a bubble column at different operating conditions.     

Dynamic Behavior of Industrial Gas Phase Fluidized Bed Polyethylene Reactors under PI Control

A mathematical model describing the UNIPOL process for the production of polyethylene in the gas phase using a Ziegler‐Natta catalyst in a bubbling fluidized bed is used to analyze the major processes determining the behavior and performance of these industrially important units. The investigation shows that both static bifurcation (multiplicity of the steady states) as well as dynamic bifurcation (stable/unstable periodic attractors) behavior cover wide regions of the design and operating parameter domain. A conventional proportional‐integral (PI) control policy is suggested to stabilize the behavior of the system. The control philosophy covers both aspects of stabilizing unstable steady states as well as compensating for external disturbances. It is shown that for some controller configurations and set points the controlled process can go through a period doubling sequence leading to chaotic strange attractors. The industrial implications of the phenomena discovered for both the open loop (uncontrolled) as well the closed‐loop (controlled) systems are analyzed.     

Modeling of Radial Flow Reactors of Oxidative Reheat Process for Production of Styrene Monomer

Styrene plays an important role in industrial production plants due to its increasing use in the production of various products. Thus, availability of a simulating program for styrene monomer reactors is of major importance in reducing the problems of a styrene unit. In oxidative reheat technology, styrene monomer is produced from ethylbenzene dehydrogenation in radial flow reactors in the presence of the generated heat from hydrogen oxidation reaction. In this article mass, energy and momentum equations on radial direction are developed for styrene monomer reactors. Required kinetic rates and parameters have been adopted from the literature [1,2]. Then, by means of experimental data from industrial reactors and sequential quadratic programming (SQP) methods, suitable kinetic parameters are obtained. Comparison of simulator prediction data with industrial ones show that the simulation has been achieved adequately.     

A Comparison of Solids Fluxes in a Pair of Downer and Riser Reactors

A direct comparison on solids flux was enabled by measurements obtained in a pair of riser and downer circulating fluidized bed reactors, of the same diameter, using suction probes. The operating conditions and the axial position were found to affect the solids flux in each reactor in a different manner. The solids flux in the riser were affected to a large degree by the gas velocity, in contrast with the downer where no visible effect was detected from changes in the gas velocity. The axial position has an effect on the shape of the solids flux profiles in the downer, but only small effects were observed in the riser. On the other hand, increases in overall solids flux leads to the increase of local solids flux in both the downer and the riser.     

Heat Dispersion Effects on the Functional Characteristics of Industrial‐scale Adiabatic Membrane Reactors

The influence of heat dispersion on the performance of adiabatic industrial‐scale membrane reactors is studied in this work. The results presented are from the application of the model to a membrane reactor that is introduced in an IGCC plant, to control carbon dioxide emissions. The performance of this reactor equipped with highly selective membranes is studied in detail. The thermal phenomena that take place in the interior of the membrane reactor have a considerable influence on the operation of the reactor thus the assumption of isothermal operation is not valid. The omission of thermal dispersion results on the underestimation of the system operation and the total gaseous fluxes that permeate through the membrane. The temperature distribution in the membrane reactor differs significantly from the calculated distribution predicted from the model that ignores thermal dispersion effects.     

Dynamics of Capillary Electrochromatography: Experimental Study of Flow and Transport in Particulate Beds

The chromatographic performance with respect to the flow behavior and dispersion in fixed beds of nonporous and macroporous particles (having mean intraparticle pore diameters of 41, 105, and 232 nm) has been studied in capillary HPLC and electrochromatography. The existence of substantial electroosmotic intraparticle pore flow (perfusive electroosmosis) in columns packed with the macroporous particles was found to reduce stagnant mobile mass transfer resistance and decrease the global flow inhomogeneity over the column cross‐section, leading to a significant improvement in column efficiency compared to capillary HPLC. The effect of electroosmotic perfusion on axial dispersion was shown to be sensitive to the mobile phase ionic strength and mean intraparticle pore diameter, thus, on an electrical double layer interaction within the particles. Complementary and consistent results were observed for the average electroosmotic flow through packed capillaries. It was found to depend on particle porosity and distinct contributions to the electrical double layer behavior within and between particles. Based on these data an optimum chromatographic performance in view of speed and efficiency can be achieved by straightforward adjustment of the electrolyte concentration and characteristic intraparticle pore size.     

A Comparison of Flow Dynamics and Flow Structure in a Riser and a Downer

Flow development and flow dynamics were systematically investigated using local solids concentration measurements in a pair consisting of a downer (0.1 m I.D., 9.3 m high) and a riser of the same diameter (0.1 m I.D., 15.1 m high). Both statistical and chaos analysis were employed. Values for the Kolmogorov entropy (K), correlation dimension (D), and Hurst exponent (H) were estimated from time series of solids concentration measurements. Axial distributions of chaos parameters were more complex in the downer than those in the riser, especially in the entrance section. Flow in the downer was more uniform with a flatter core in all the radial profiles of chaos parameters. The radial profiles of K varied significantly with increasing axial levels due to different clustering behavior in the wall region of the downer. In both the riser and the downer, anti‐persistent flow in the core region and persistent flow behavior near the wall were identified from the profiles of H. Different flow behavior in the region close to the wall in the downer and riser was characterized from the combination of the three chaos parameters. Relationships between chaos parameters and local time‐averaged solids holdup in the core and wall regions of the developed sections in both the downer and riser were also analyzed.     

环流反应器研究进展

介绍了环流反应器的类型及其工作原理 ,总结了环流反应器的研究及应用现状 ,分析了特性参数气含率、循环液速、液相体积传质系数的影响因素 ,并对流动模型进行了归纳 ,以期对有关工作者及研究者提供一定的借鉴作用。     

How to Prevent Runaways in Trickle‐Bed Reactors for Pygas Hydrogenation

In the past, several runaways have occurred in Trickle‐Bed Reactors (TBR) used for the hydrogenation of pyrolysis gasoline as produced in ethylene cracking installations. This phenomenon has been studied in the framework of a special program in the Netherlands, which is administered by the National Science Foundation and which aims to keep scientific groups in the former Soviet Union working in their current difficult times. To this end a working party was set up at the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis (BIC) in Novosibirsk, Siberia in Russia. The day‐to‐day management of the working party was conducted locally by Professor Kirillov and the authors Westerterp and Kronberg scientifically and administratively managed the project. This paper reports the results of the study that took place in the years from 1997–2000. The study has led to certain recommendations for the design and operation of TBR's for the hydrogenation of pygas, which will be elucidated and explained here. To this end the phenomenon of “particle runaway” will first be discussed, and then the major results of the study at the BIC will be described, and eventually conclusions will be reached for the running of pygas hydrogenation TBR's. Later, in depth reports will be published on all work done, but now only the most important results are discussed, without going into detail.     

Experimental and Theoretical Studies on Hydrogenation in Multiphase Fixed‐Bed Reactors

Multiphase fixed‐bed reactors have complex hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics. The modeling and scale‐up are therefore difficult. The present work focuses on the role of mass transfer on the effective reaction rate. The catalytic 1‐octene hydrogenation was taken as a model reaction. The reaction rate in the trickle‐bed reactor is by a factor of 20 smaller than (theoretically) in the absence of any mass transfer limitations. For high octene concentrations (> 10 %), the effective reaction rate is limited by the H₂ consumption, above all by the gas/liquid and liquid/solid mass transfer. For lower octene concentrations the reaction is zero order with respect to H₂ and only depends on the octene consumption, i.e., on the interplay of chemical reaction, L/S and intraparticle mass transfer of octene.     

Microstructured Reactors in Heterogenous Catalysis

A number of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions, mainly gas‐phase reactions, have been performed previously at a laboratory scale and a successful proof of concept was achieved. Since the beginning of this century, there has been a shift in focus on the transfer from laboratory scale to production scale. In particular, this review deals with the technical concepts and economic aspects involved in such a shift. Heterogenously catalyzed gas‐phase and liquid‐phase processes are discussed separately. The preparation of wall catalysts is a key technology in both cases and is described in an additional subsection. Finally, an evaluation of the developmental status is given.     

Transport Phenomena in Eccentric Cylindrical Coordinates

Studies in transport phenomena have been limited to a select few coordinate systems. Specifically, Cartesian, cylindrical, spherical, Dijksman toroidal, and bipolar cylindrical coordinates have been the primary focus of transport work. The lack of diverse coordinate systems, for which the equations of change have been worked out, limits the diversity of transport phenomena problem solutions. Here, we introduce eccentric cylindrical coordinates and develop the corresponding equations of change (continuity, motion, and energy). This new coordinate system is unique, distinct from bipolar cylindrical coordinates, and does not contain cylindrical coordinates as a special case. We find eccentric cylindrical coordinates to be more intuitive for solving transport problems than bipolar cylindrical coordinates. Specific applications are given, in the form of novel exact solutions, for problems important to chemical engineers, in momentum, heat and mass transfer. We complete our analysis of eccentric cylindrical coordinates by using the new equations to solve one momentum, one energy, and one mass transport problem exactly. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 3563–3581, 2017     

The Synergy Effect of Process Coupling for Dimethyl Ether Synthesis in Slurry Reactors

The synergy effect of process coupling of reaction‐reaction and reaction‐heat transfer for dimethyl ether synthesis has been studied. The theoretical and experimental analyses show that the synergy of reaction‐reaction is prominent and that the synergy of reaction‐heat transfer is also feasible. Due to the synergy effect, CO‐rich synthesis gas can be used for dimethyl ether synthesis and higher once‐through conversion of CO can be obtained. Recycling and compression of the unreacted synthesis gas can be minimized considerably. Accordingly, savings will be made in energy consumption and the water gas shift reaction system, and the entire investment and production cost will decrease.