Trickle-bed catalytic reactor

Aniline present as an impurity in a hydrocarbon stream is to be hydrogenated to cyclo-hexylamine in a trickle bed catalytic reactor operating at 403 K (130°C). 

Operation of packed trickle-bed catalytic reactors is with liquid and gas flow downward together, and of packed mass transfer equipment with gas flow upward and liquid flow down. 

Silveston, P. L., Hanika,)., Challenges for the periodic operation of trickle-bed catalytic reactors. Chemical Engineering Science, 2002, 57, 3373... 

The trickle-bed catalytic reactor shown in Fig. 6.8 utilizes product recycle to obtain satisfactory operating conditions for temperature and conversion. Use of a high recycle rate eliminates the need for mechanical agitation. Concentrations of the single reactant and the product are measured at a point in the recycle line where the product stream is removed, A liquid phase first-order reaction is involved. 

Activation energy, stability in trickle-bed reactors, 76 Activation overpotential, cross-flow monolith fuel cell reactor, 182 Activity balance, deactivation of non-adiabatic packed-bed reactors, 394 Adiabatic reactors stability, 337-58 trickle-bed, safe operation, 61-81 Adsorption equilibrium, countercurrent moving-bed catalytic reactor, 273 Adsorption isotherms, countercurrent moving-bed catalytic reactor, 278,279f... 

Fixed-bed catalytic reactors are widely applied to reaction systems in which the reactants are present in a single vapor phase. The scale-up and performance of commercial reactors can be predicted from experiments in small-scale reactors. On the other hand, the mixed-phase trickle bed reactor is considerably more complex to analyze and scale up. The performance of trickle bed reactors is influenced by many factors associated with mixed-phase (gas-liquid-solid) processing. Some of... 

As indicated in Table 17.1, there are essentially three main classes of three-phase fixed-bed catalytic reactors. The class of reactors characterized by cocurrent downflow of gas and liquid is called the trickle bed reactor (TBR). We shall be concerned here only with these reactors, for they are more commonly used in organic technology than the other two variations. 

Two-phase flow in three-phase fixed-bed reactors makes the reactor design problem complex [12], Interphase mass transfer can be important between gas and liquid as also between liquid and catalyst particle. Also, in the case of trickle-bed reactors, the rivulet-type flow of the liquid falling through the fixed bed may result (particularly at low liquid flow rates) in only part of the catalyst particle surface being covered with the liquid phase. This introduces a third mass transfer process from gas to the so-called gas-covered surface. Also, the reaction rates in three-phase fixed-bed catalytic reactors are highly affected by the heat transfer resistances resistance to radial heat transfer and resistance to fluid-to-particle heat transfer. As a result of these and other factors, predicting the local (global) rate of reaction for a catalyst particle in three-phase fixed-bed reactors requires not only... 

Two-Phase Fixed Bed Catalytic Reactors with Cocurrent Downflow. Trickle Bed Reactors and Packed Downflow Bubble Reactors... 

Catalytic hydrogenation is typically carried out in slurry reactors, where finely dispersed catalyst particles (<100 (tm) are immersed in a dispersion of gas and liquid. It has, however, been demonstrated that continuous operation is possible, either by using trickle bed [24] or monoHth technologies [37]. Elevated pressures and temperatures are needed to have a high enough reaction rate. On the other hand, too high a temperature impairs the selectivity of the desired product, as has been demonstrated by Kuusisto et al. [23]. An overview of some feasible processes and catalysts is shown in Table 8.1. 

Reactors with a packed bed of catalyst are identical to those for gas-liquid reactions filled with inert packing. Trickle-bed reactors are probably the most commonly used reactors with a fixed bed of catalyst. A draft-tube reactor (loop reactor) can contain a catalytic packing (see Fig. 5.4-9) inside the central tube. Stmctured catalysts similar to structural packings in distillation and absorption columns or in static mixers, which are characterized by a low pressure drop, can also be inserted into the draft tube. Recently, a monolithic reactor (Fig. 5.4-11) has been developed, which is an alternative to the trickle-bed reactor. The monolith catalyst has the shape of a block with straight narrow channels on the walls of which catalytic species are deposited. The already extremely low pressure drop by friction is compensated by gravity forces. Consequently, the pressure in the gas phase is constant over the whole height of the reactor. If needed, the gas can be recirculated internally without the necessity of using an external pump. 

Satterfield, C. N., and Yang, S. H., Catalytic Hydrodenitrogenation of Quinoline in A Trickle-Bed Reactor. Comparison With Vapor Phase Reaction. Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Dev, 1984. 23 pp. 11-19. 

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is rapidly becoming a standard tool for the analysis of chemically reacting flows. For single-phase reactors, such as stirred tanks and empty tubes, it is already well-established. For multiphase reactors such as fixed beds, bubble columns, trickle beds and fluidized beds, its use is relatively new, and methods are still under development. The aim of this chapter is to present the application of CFD to the simulation of three-dimensional interstitial flow in packed tubes, with and without catalytic reaction. Although the use of... 

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