Tubular reactors applications

As an example of the application of a fixed-bed tubular reactor, consider the production of methanol. Synthesis gas (a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide) is reacted over a copper-based cat dyst. The main reactions are... 

Peclet number independent of Reynolds number also means that turbulent diffusion or dispersion is directly proportional to the fluid velocity. In general, reactors that are simple in construction, (tubular reactors and adiabatic reactors) approach their ideal condition much better in commercial size then on laboratory scale. On small scale and corresponding low flows, they are handicapped by significant temperature and concentration gradients that are not even well defined. In contrast, recycle reactors and CSTRs come much closer to their ideal state in laboratory sizes than in large equipment. The energy requirement for recycle reaci ors grows with the square of the volume. This limits increases in size or applicable recycle ratios. 

Similar approaches are applicable in the chemical industry. For example, maleic anhydride is manufactured by partial oxidation of benzene in a fixed catalyst bed tubular reactor. There is a potential for extremely high temperatures due to thermal runaway if feed ratios are not maintained within safe limits. Catalyst geometry, heat capacity, and partial catalyst deactivation have been used to create a self-regulatory mechanism to prevent excessive temperature (Raghaven, 1992). 

Table I provides an overview of general reactor designs used with PS and HIPS processes on the basis of reactor function. The polymer concentrations characterizing the mass polymerizations are approximate there could be some overlapping of agitator types with solids level beyond that shown in the tcd>le. Polymer concentration limits on HIPS will be lower because of increased viscosity. There are also additional applications. Tubular reactors, for example, in effect, often exist as the transfer lines between reactors and in external circulating loops associated with continuous reactors.

The dAc/dz term is usually zero since tubular reactors with constant diameter are by far the most important application of Equation (3.7). For the exceptional case, we suppose that Afz) is known, say from the design drawings of the reactor. It must be a smooth (meaning differentiable) and slowly varying function of z or else the assumption of piston flow will run into hydrodynamic as well as mathematical difficulties. Abrupt changes in A. will create secondary flows that invalidate the assumptions of piston flow. 

This section derives a simple version of the convective diffusion equation, applicable to tubular reactors with a one-dimensional velocity profile V (r). The starting point is Equation (1.4) applied to the differential volume element shown in Figure 8.9. The volume element is located at point (r, z) and is in the shape of a ring. Note that 0-dependence is ignored so that the results will not be applicable to systems with significant natural convection. Also, convection due to is neglected. Component A is transported by radial and axial diffusion and by axial convection. The diffusive flux is governed by Pick s law. 

Simulation and application of the ideas for productivity enhancement in an LDPE tubular reactor... 

In this chapter the simulation examples are described. As seen from the Table of Contents, the examples are organised according to twelve application areas Batch Reactors, Continuous Tank Reactors, Tubular Reactors, Semi-Continuous Reactors, Mixing Models, Tank Flow Examples, Process Control, Mass Transfer Processes, Distillation Processes, Heat Transfer, and Dynamic Numerical Examples. There are aspects of some examples which relate them to more than one application area, which is usually apparent from the titles of the examples. Within each section, the examples are listed in order of their degree of difficulty. 

Illustrations 8.3 and 8.4 indicate the application of the above analysis to isothermal tubular reactors with negligible pressure drop. 

If AW AW the process of finding a linear-mixture basis can be tedious. Fortunately, however, in practical applications Nm is usually not greater than 2 or 3, and thus it is rarely necessary to search for more than one or two combinations of linearly independent columns for each reference vector. In the rare cases where A m > 3, the linear mixtures are often easy to identify. For example, in a tubular reactor with multiple side-injection streams, the side streams might all have the same inlet concentrations so that c(2) = = c(iVin). The stationary flow calculation would then require only AW = 1 mixture-fraction components to describe mixing between inlet 1 and the Nm — I side streams. In summary, as illustrated in Fig. 5.7, a turbulent reacting flow for which a linear-mixture basis exists can be completely described in terms of a transformed composition vector ipm( defined by... 

Amongst the assumptions we have made in developing the model are the following that Pick s law is applicable to the diffusion processes, the gel particles are isotropic and behave as hard spheres, the flow rate is uniform throughout the bed, the dispersion in the column Ccui be approximated by the use of an axial dispersion coefficient cuid that polymer molecules have an independent existence (i.e. very dilute solution conditions exist within the column). Our approach borrows extensively many of the concepts which have been developed to interpret the behaviour of packed bed tubular reactors (5). 

Petersen [12] points out that this criterion is invalid for more complex chemical reactions whose rate is retarded by products. In such cases, the observed kinetic rate expression should be substituted into the material balance equation for the particular geometry of particle concerned. An asymptotic solution to the material balance equation then gives the correct form of the effectiveness factor. The results indicate that the inequality (23) is applicable only at high partial pressures of product. For low partial pressures of product (often the condition in an experimental differential tubular reactor), the criterion will depend on the magnitude of the constants in the kinetic rate equation. 

The hydrodynamic factors that influence the plasma polymerization process pose a complicated problem and are of importance in the application of plasma for thin film coatings. When two reaction chambers with different shapes or sizes are used and when plasma polymerization of the same monomer is operated under the same operational conditions of RF power, monomer flow rate, pressure in the reaction chamber etc., the two plasma polymers formed in the two reaction chambers are never identical because of the differences in the hydrodynamic factors. In this sense, plasma polymerization is a reactor-dependent process. Yasuda and Hirotsu [22] systematically investigated the effects of hydrodynamic factors on the plasma polymerization process. They studied the effect of the monomer flow pattern on the polymer deposition rate in a tubular reactor. The polymer deposition rate is a function of the location in the chamber. The distribution of the polymer deposition rate is mainly determined by the distance from the plasma zone and the... 

Precolumn derivatization is often inadequate for dirty samples. In these cases, application of a postcolumn reaction detection system will often suffice. Deelder et al. (44) and van der Wal (45) have examined different configurations for postcolumn reactors and defined optimal selections on the basis of reaction time and type and effect on resolution and sensitivity. Both studies preferred the packed-bed reactor to the open tubular reactors when conventional column geometries were employed for separation, that is, 4.6 mm i.d. X 15 or 25 cm. 

Studies in optimization-VII The application of Pontryagin s methods to the control of batch and tubular reactors (with C.D. Siebenthal). Chem. Eng. ScL 19,747-761 (1964). 

Although the early literature described the application of a tubular reactor for the production of SBR latexes(1), the standard continuous emulsion polymerization processes for SBR polymerization still consist of continuous stirred tank reactors(CSTR s) and all of the recipe ingredients are normally fed into the first reactor and a latex is removed from the last one, as shown in Figure 1. However, it is doubtful whether this conventional reactor combination and operation method is the most efficient in continuous emulsion polymerization. As is well known, the kinetic behavior of continuous emulsion polymerization differs very much according to the kind of monomers. In this paper, therefore, the discussion about the present subject will be advanced using the... 

The PFR tubular reactor is used for both liquid and gas phases. The reactor is a long vessel with feed entering at one end and product leaving at the other end. In some applications the vessel is packed with a solid catalyst. Some tubular reactors run adiabatically (i.e., with no heat transferred externally down the length of the vessel). The heat generated or consumed by the reaction increases or decreases the temperature of the process... 

---