Performance of 12.0 1.2 Meter Long Methanol Reactors

Atwood et al, (1989) developed a reactor model that included axial and radial mass and heat dispersions to compare the performance of laboratory 

Both reactors used 38.1 mm 0 tubes. The commercial reactor was 12 m long while the length of the laboratory reactor was 1.2 m. Except for the 10 1 difference in the lengths, everything else was the same. Both reactors were simulated at 100 atm operation and at GHSV of 10,000 h-1. This means that residence times were identical, and linear gas velocities were 10 times less in the lab than at the production unit. Consequently the Re number, and all that is a function of it, were different. Heat transfer coefficients were 631 and 206 in wattsWK units for the large and small reactors. 

Length, m Coolant Temp, K Gas Type Inlet Velocity m/sec Production rate, Kg/Hr 

Inlet Pressure, 1012 kPa Inlet Temperature, 473K Inlet Composition, 0.772 Kg mol/cu m carbon monoxide, 1.801 Kg mol/cu m hydrogen. 

Reproduced with permission from Atwood et ai, Chem. Eng. Comm., 76, p. 137, 1989 Gordon Breach. 

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