Industrial catalytic processes employing fluidized-bed reactors

3 Industrial catalytic processes employing fluidized-bed reactors 

Reviews of catalytic applications of fluidized-bed reactors have been published by Geldart [12], Yerushalmi [13], Kunii and Levenspiel [6], and Jazayeri [14]. Major catalytic processes conducted in fluidized beds are identified, accompanied by brief commentary, in Table 4.2. 

In a manner similar to FCC, fluidized beds have also been utilized for catalytic reforming of straight-chain naphtha hydrocarbon compounds into branched-chain compounds of higher octane number. While most steam reforming of natural gas to produce hydrogen has been carried out in fixed-bed reactors, there have also been periodic efforts to conduct steam methane reforming (SMR) in fluidized beds. 

One of the earliest successful catalytic fluidized-bed operations was to produce phthalic anhydride by partial oxidation 

Many other catalytic fluidized-bed processes have been tested at various scales. These include catalytic low-temperature oxidation, catalytic gasification and pyrolysis of biomass and waste plastic, production of carbon nanotubes, dry reforming of methane, hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons, methanol-to-gasoline (MTC) process, synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME), and selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen 

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