Bed system

A hypothetical moving-bed system and a Hquid-phase composition profile are shown in Figure 7. The adsorbent circulates continuously as a dense bed in a closed cycle and moves up the adsorbent chamber from bottom to top. Liquid streams flow down through the bed countercurrently to the soHd. The feed is assumed to be a binary mixture of A and B, with component A being adsorbed selectively. Feed is introduced to the bed as shown. 

In the moving-bed system of Figure 7, soHd is moving continuously ia a closed circuit past fixed poiats of iatroduction and withdrawal of Hquid. The same results can be obtained by holding the bed stationary and periodically moving the positions at which the various streams enter and leave. A shift ia the positions of the iatroduction of the Hquid feed and the withdrawal ia the direction of fluid flow through the bed simulates the movement of soHd ia the opposite direction. 

The primary control variables at a fixed feed rate, as in the operation pictured in Figure 8, are the cycle time, which is measured by the time required for one complete rotation of the rotary valve (this rotation is the analog of adsorbent circulation rate in an actual moving-bed system), and the Hquid flow rate in Zones 2, 3, and 4. When these control variables are specified, all other net rates to and from the bed and the sequence of rates required at the Hquid... 

Chromatography may also be advantageous when it is required to separate several pure products from a single feed stream. A simulated moving-bed system can yield only two weU-separated fractions from a single feed stream. 

Fig. 9. Methane production by pyrolysis using sand and char recycle in fluidized two-bed system.

The fluidized-bed system (Fig. 3) uses finely sized coal particles and the bed exhibits Hquid-like characteristics when a gas flows upward through the bed. Gas flowing through the coal produces turbulent lifting and separation of particles and the result is an expanded bed having greater coal surface area to promote the chemical reaction. These systems, however, have only a limited abiUty to handle caking coals (see Fluidization). 

The first coimneicial fluidized-bed systems used WinMei units in which lignite and its chat are gasified at atmospheric pressure with ait or oxygen... 

Njlene Separation. -Xylene is separated from mixed xylenes and ethylbenzene by means of the Parex process (Universal Oil Products Company). A proprietary adsorbent and process cycle are employed in a simulated moving-bed system. High purity -xylene is produced. 

Two new processes usiag 2eohte-based catalyst systems were developed ia the late 1980s. Unocal s technology is based on a conventional fixed-bed system. CR L has developed a catalytic distillation system based on an extension of the CR L MTBE technology (48—51). 

Another approach is the simulated moving-bed system, which has large-volume appHcations in normal-paraffin separation andpara- s.yXen.e separation. Since its introduction in 1970, the simulated moving-bed system has largely displaced crystallisation ia xylene separations. The unique feature of the system is that, although the bed is fixed, the feed point shifts to simulate a moving bed (see Adsorption,liquid separation). 

High sodium, raw water, existing 2-bed system, low leakage required... 

In the 1970s commercial fluidized-bed combustors were limited to the atmospheric, bubbling-bed system, called the atmospheric fluidized-bed combustor (AFBC). In the late 1970s the circulating fluidized combustor (CFG) was introduced commercially, and in the 1980s the new commercial unit was the pressurized fluidized-bed combustor (PFBC). 

Shorter cycle times produce smaller bed sizes. The minimum cycle time is usually dictated by the minimum regeneration time required to heat and cool the bed. Systems of greater than two beds provide some flexibiUty in regeneration time but add to investment costs. 

A fluidi2ed-bed catalytic reactor system developed by C. E. Lummus (323) offers several advantages over fixed-bed systems ia temperature control, heat and mass transfer, and continuity of operation. Higher catalyst activity levels and higher ethylene yields (99% compared to 94—96% with fixed-bed systems) are accompHshed by continuous circulation of catalyst between reactor and regenerator for carbon bum-off and continuous replacement of catalyst through attrition. 

In the late 1980s, however, the discovery of a noble metal catalyst that could tolerate and destroy halogenated hydrocarbons such as methyl bromide in a fixed-bed system was reported (52,53). The products of the reaction were water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen bromide, and bromine. Generally, a scmbber would be needed to prevent downstream equipment corrosion. However, if the focus of the control is the VOCs and the CO rather than the methyl bromide, a modified catalyst formulation can be used that is able to tolerate the methyl bromide, but not destroy it. In this case the methyl bromide passes through the bed unaffected, and designing the system to avoid downstream effects is not necessary. Destmction efficiencies of hydrocarbons and CO of better than 95% have been reported, and methyl bromide destmctions between 0 and 85% (52). 

Equipment Types Fhiidized-bed systems take many forms. Figure 17-6 shows some of the more prevalent concepts with approximate ranges of gas velocities. 

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