Effect of phase maldistribution on performance of two-phase catalytic monolith reactor and its comparison with trickle bed reactor |
| |
| Authors: | Shaibal Roy Premkumar Kamalanathan Peter Lehner Thomas Turek Muthanna Al-Dahhan |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri;2. Bayer Technology Services, Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany;3. Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory, Department of Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri |
| |
| Abstract: | Monolith reactors are widely considered as an alternative to the conventional trickle bed reactor. For the commercial deployment of monolith reactors, comparative performance studies are required. Reliable comparative and performance studies require a detailed understanding of the effect of phase distribution/maldistribution on the performance studies. In this work, performance and comparative studies were carried out in a relatively large column that was 4.8 cm in diameter. Experiments were performed in the same conditions that were used in studies for which phase distribution data were available. Since the properties of the catalyst used were different in both the reactors, the apparent kinetics were studied to facilitate the comparison. The hydrogenation of alpha-methyl styrene (AMS) was used as a test reaction. From the performance studies, it was found that the effect of maldistribution on the performance was stronger than the catalyst availability. From the comparative studies, it was found that the monolith reactor with maldistributed flow conditions provides higher productivity than the trickle bed reactor. |
| |
| Keywords: | apparent kinetics maldistribution monoliths performance trickle bed reactor |
|
|
