Circulating fluidized bed process

Sasol produces synthetic fuels and chemicals from coal-derived synthesis gas. Two significant variations of this technology have been commercialized, and new process variations are continually under development. Sasol One used both the fixed-bed (Arge) process, operated at about 240°C, as weU as a circulating fluidized-bed (Synthol) system operating at 340°C. Each ET reactor type has a characteristic product distribution that includes coproducts isolated for use in the chemical industry. Paraffin wax is one of the principal coproducts of the low temperature Arge process. Alcohols, ketones, and lower paraffins are among the valuable coproducts obtained from the Synthol process. 

The heavy vacuum bottoms stream is fed to a Flexicoking unit. This is a commercial (125,126) petroleum process that employs circulating fluidized beds at low (0.3 MPa (50 psi)) pressures and intermediate temperatures, ie, 480—650°C in the coker and 815—980°C in the gasifier, to produce high yields of hquids or gases from organic material present in the feed. Residual carbon is rejected with the ash from the gasifier fluidized bed. The total Hquid product is a blend of streams from Hquefaction and the Flexicoker. 

A circulating fluidized-bed boiler, using raw shale oil as a feedstock, is being used to supply process heat for the phosphate operations and to operate a 100-MW power plant. Scale-up in the 1990s should increase the electric power generation to 1000 MW (71). 

Corrective Action Application Circulating fluidized bed incinerators are ready for full-scale testing under the EPA SITE Program. A unit is now in the RCRA permitting process. 

Fluidized-bed process incinerators have been used mostly in the petroleum and paper industries, and for processing nuclear wastes, spent cook liquor, wood chips, and sewage sludge disposal. Wastes in any physical state can be applied to a fluidized-bed process incinerator. Au.xiliary equipment includes a fuel burner system, an air supply system, and feed systems for liquid and solid wastes. The two basic bed design modes, bubbling bed and circulating bed, are distinguished by the e.xtent to which solids are entrained from the bed into the gas stream. 

A new process for the partial oxidation of n-butane to maleic anhydride was developed by DuPont. The important feature of this process is the use of a circulating fluidized bed-reactor. Solids flux in the rizer-reactor is high and the superficial gas velocities are also high, which encounters short residence times usually in seconds. The developed catalyst for this process is based on vanadium phosphorous oxides... 

The process essentially involves passing air through a bottom furnace distributor plate and a fixed bed of sand. As air flow rates increase, the fixed bed becomes more unstable and bubbles of air appear (minimum fluidized condition). Above this minimum level, higher air flow rates produce—depending on design—either bubbling fluidized beds or circulating fluidized beds, and the fuel is introduced onto these beds. 

FIGURE 6.9 Flexicoking is a commercial process for refining petroleum that has been applied to heavy oil and tar sand fractions. The process employs circulating fluidized beds and operates at moderate temperatures and pressures. The reactor produces liquid fuels and excess coke. The latter is allowed to react with a gas-air mixture in the gasifier fluidized bed to provide a low-value heating gas that can be desulfurized and used as a plant fuel. Courtesy, Exxon Research and Engineering Company. 

Reh, L., The Circulating Fluid Bed Reactor—A Key to Efficient Gas-Solid Processing, Proc. First Intern. Conf. Circulating Fluidized Bed, p. 105-118, Halifax, Canada (1985)... 

Circofer A DR process for finely divided ores using reducing gases made from coal in a circulating fluidized bed. Under development by Lurgi in 1995. 

SPIREX A DR process for making iron powder or hot briquetted iron from iron ore fines. Three stages are used. The first is a circulating fluidized bed preheater whose turbulent conditions reduce the particle size of the ore. The second and third stages achieve the reduction in fluidized beds, fed by reducing gases from a MIDREX reformer. Developed by Midrex Direct Reduction Corporation and Kobe Steel. A demonstration plant was scheduled to be built at the Kobe Steel plant in Venezuela in 1997. 

Zhang, N., EMMS-based Meso-Scale Mass Transfer Model and Its Application to Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion Simulation, Ph.D. thesis (in Chinese), Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (2010). Zhang, J., Ge, W. and Li, J., Chem. Eng. Sci. 60(11), 3091-3099 (2005). 

A New Process for n-Butane Oxidation to Maleic Anhydride Using a Circulating Fluidized Bed Reactor. In Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology TV. Ed. A. A. Avidan. New York AlChE Publications. 

---