Multi-reactor trains

Can equipment sets be combined (e.g., replacing reactive distillation with a separate reactor and multi-column fractionation train installing internal reboilers or heat exchangers) to reduce overall system volume ... 

The frequency of decompositions depends on the process, whether the plant is equipped with a tubular reactor, a multi-chamber autoclave, or single autoclaves. Important factors are the pressure, temperature, and residence time in the reactor and in the high-pressure separator. The frequency of decompositions is also influenced by the raw materials and the resins which are manufactured. Last, but not least, the frequency of decompositions depends on the shape of the plant, on the training of the operators, and on the know-how of the company or the assistance of the licensor. 

The glycol plant feed along with any high aldehyde EO bleeds from the EO purification section are sent to the glycol reactor (9) and then to a multi-effect evaporation train (10, 11, 12) for removal of the bulk of the water from the glycols. The glycols are then dried (13) and sent to the glycol distillation train (14, 15, 16) where the MEG, DEG and TEG products are recovered and purified. 

The experimental apparatus used in this study is shown schematically in Fig. 1. It consists of a multi-technique UHV surface science chamber coupled directly to a reactor system. This configuration permits surface characterization and reactor studies to be carried out on both model and conventional catalyst systems. The reactor and the down stream analytical train have been described else-where.(21,22)... 

The chapter presents a brief overview of the current research on V205/Ti02 catalysts for o-xylene oxidation to phthalic anhydride at Clariant. Phthalic anhydride is produced in tubular, salt-cooled reactors with a capacity of about 5 Mio to per annum. There is a rather broad variety of different process conditions realized in industry in terms of feed composition, air flow rate, as well as reactor dimensions which the phthalic anhydride catalyst portfolio has to match. Catalyst active mass compositions have been optimized at Clariant for these differently realized industry processes utilizing artificial neural networks trained on high-throughput data. Fundamental pilot reactor research unravelling new details of the reaction network of the o-xylene oxidation led to an improved kinetic reactor model which allowed further optimizing of the state of the art multi-layer catalyst system for maximum phthalic anhydride yields. 

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