METHANOL PRODUCTIVITY COMPARISON BETWEEN AN AGITATED SLURRY REACTOR AND AN ENTRAINED REACTOR

The effect of various operating conditions including the catalyst loading in slurry, on the productivity of methanol in an agitated slurry reactor were studied. The modeling of the mechanically agitated slurry reactor was performed with the aid of the reaction rate expression and the gas-liquid mass transfer correlation that were developed, to predict the rate of methanol production for any inlet condition

The equilibrium limitation encountered in the liquid phase methanol synthesis process in an agitated slurry reactor can be alleviated by conducting this process in an entrained reactor, where the product methanol formed is continuously flashed out of the system. After developing a kinetic rate expression and a gas-liquid mass transfer correlation, the modeling of the entrained reactor was performed to predict the reactor productivity for any process condition. The rate of methanol production predicted for nominally identical operating conditions in an entrained reactor and in a mechanically agitated slurry reactor are compared with the aid of the computer models developed