Two-fluid reactor, design

Sampling of a two-fluid phase system containing powdered catalyst can be problematic and should be considered in the reactor design. In the case of complex reacting systems with multiple reaction paths, it is important that isothermal data are obtained. Also, different activation energies for the various reaction paths will make it difficult to evaluate the rate constants from non-isothermal data. 

Eulerian two-fluid model coupled with dispersed itequations was applied to predict gas-liquid two-phase flow in cyclohexane oxidation airlift loop reactor. Simulation results have presented typical hydrodynamic characteristics, distribution of liquid velocity and gas hold-up in the riser and downcomer were presented. The draft-tube geometry not only affects the magnitude of liquid superficial velocity and gas hold-up, but also the detailed liquid velocity and gas hold-up distribution in the reactor, the final construction of the reactor lies on the industrial technical requirement. The investigation indicates that CFD of airlift reactors can be used to model, design and scale up airlift loop reactors efficiently. 

One way to ease any difficulties that may arise in fabricating a membrane, especially in design configurations that are not planar, is to go membraneless. Recent reports take advantage of the laminar flow innate to microfluidic reactors ° to develop membraneless fuel cells. The potential of the fuel cell is established at the boundary between parallel (channel) flows of the two fluids customarily compartmentalized in the fuel cell as fuel (anolyte) and oxidant (catholyte). Adapting prior redox fuel cell chemistry using a catholyte of V /V and an anolyte of Ferrigno et al. obtained 35 mA cmr at... 

Arana et al. have performed extensive modeling and thermal characterization experiments on their reactor design. They modeled their design consisting of two suspended SiN - tubes linked with slabs of silicon using two-dimensional computation fluid dynamics and a heat transfer model (Femlab, Comsol Inc.). The heat of reaction of the steam reforming or... 

Classification by Phase Despite the generic classification by operating mode, reactors are designed to accommodate the reactant phases and provide optimal conditions for reaction. Reactants may be fluid(s) or solid(s), and as such, several reactor types have been developed. Singlephase reactors are typically gas- (or plasma- ) or liquid-phase reactors. Two-phase reactors may be gas-liquid, liquid-liquid, gas-solid, or liquid-solid reactors. Multiphase reactors typically have more than two phases present. The most common type of multiphase reactor is a gas-liquid-solid reactor however, liquid-liquid-solid reactors are also used. The classification by phases will be used to develop the contents of this section. 

The relationship between the inlet and outlet temperature depends on the heat exchange between the fluid flowing through the bed and the surrounding fluid and/or the reactor parts. The rate of this heat exchange depends on the reactor design and is difficult to predict theoretically. The two limiting situations of isothermal and adiabatic operations can be considered in the evaluation of the reactor performance. Under isothermal conditions,... 

However, each set of factors entering in to the rate expression is also a potential source of scaleup error. For this, and other reasons, a fundamental requirement when scaling a process is that the model and prototype be similar to each other with respect to reactor type and design. For example, a cleaning process model of a continuous-stirred tank reactor (CSTR) cannot be scaled to a prototype with a tubular reactor design. Process conditions such as fluid flow and heat and mass transfer are totally different for the two types of reactors. However, results from rate-of-reaction experiments using a batch reactor can be used to design either a CSTR or a tubular reactor based solely on a function of conversion, -r ... 

When scaling the process, the model and prototype must have Reynolds numbers in the same regime (i.e., laminar or turbulent flow) in order to achieve similar results. Ideally, the two reactors would have nearly identical or identical Reynolds numbers. In order to satisfy this requirement for scaleup, the model and prototype must be similar to each other with respect to reactor design, fluid flow, and physical dimensions. According to the principle of similarity, for every process condition and point in the model, there must be a corresponding condition and point in the prototype.This principle is applied to the scaling process by observing similar requirements for several other dimensionless ratios or variables that must be treated in a similar fashion. 

In scaling-up this process, appropriate reactor design was conducted elaborately by the results of several tests. The following two points are characteristic of the scale-up. One is the development of catalyst suitable for fluid beds. Selectivity should not decrease by the increase of hydrocarbon concentration. Also, reaction rate of the secondary reaction should be small. These problems were solved by the development of rather simple P-V catalyst (K2, K3). Another device is the instantaneous mixing inlet mechanism for hydrocarbon and air. By this, activity decline of the catalyst can be prevented (T12). Thus a process has been developed which is equally as profitable as the benzene process. 

The multi-tube reactor is more common than the other two fixed bed designs because many of the important heterogeneous catalytic processes require effective heat transfer between the mobile fluid, catalyst bed and heat-ing/cooling media. 

Chapter 10 contains a literature survey of the basic fluidized bed reactor designs, principles of operation and modeling. The classical two- and three phase fluidized bed models for bubbling beds are defined based on heat and species mass balances. The fluid dynamic models are based on kinetic theory of granular flow. A reactive flow simulation of a particular sorption enhanced steam reforming process is assessed. 

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