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Modeling and simulation of trickle bed reactors for the purification of 1-butene

  • Javier A. Alves EMAIL logo , Germán García Colli , Osvaldo M. Martínez and Guillermo F. Barreto
Published/Copyright: April 26, 2023
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International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering
From the journal International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering Volume 21 Issue 9

Abstract

In this contribution, a mathematical model of an industrial trickle-bed reactor employed in the purification of a C4 cut by selective hydrogenation of acetylenic or dienes compounds to obtain high purity 1-butene is presented. A reaction network of ten reactions is included in the model, with kinetics expressions and parameter estimation obtained from previous experimental studies on a commercial catalyst. Internal mass transfer resistances in the catalyst particles are significant; therefore the reaction-diffusion equations must be solved. External mass transfer resistances in the liquid phase were retained, while those in the vapor phase were negligible. The model was employed to analyze the reactor behavior by varying the inlet molar flow rate of hydrogen, the operating pressure, inlet temperature and the level of activity of the catalyst, taking into account its deactivation. It was demonstrated that the mass transfer resistances, inside and outside the catalyst particles, have a significant impact on the selectivity, but a careful operation of the reactor can improve the selectivity and extent the catalyst life. On the other hand, an alternative system was proposed, with two beds and a distributed input of H2, which led to a significant improvement in the selectivity.

Keywords: 1-butene; 1-butyne; 1,3-butadiene; selective hydrogenation; trickle bed reactor
Corresponding author: Javier A. Alves, Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería (UNLP), 1 y 47, CP: 1900, La Plata, Argentina; and Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas “Dr. J. J. Ronco” (CINDECA), CONICET-UNLP-CIC BA, Calle 47 No. 257 CP: B 1900 AJK, La Plata, Argentina, E-mail:

Funding source: Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Award Identifier / Grant number: PID I226

Funding source: CONICET

Award Identifier / Grant number: PIP 11220200102005CO

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the financial support provided by the following Argentine Institutions: UNLP (PID I226) and CONICET (PIP 11220200102005CO).

  1. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: None declared.

  3. Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

Appendix

Mass transfer coefficient on the liquid side of the vapour–liquid interface ( κ j LV ) and vapor/liquid interface area per unit bed volume ( a v L V ): Midoux et al. (1984).

(A1) κ j LV / D j 0.5 = 490 N 0.58 ;   a v L V / ε B = 1.47 × 10 5 N 0.65 ;   N = ε B 2   ξ L V a v L S u L + u V

u L and u V are the liquid and vapor superficial velocities [m/s], respectively. ξ LV is the vapor/liquid mixture dissipated power per unit void volume of the packing, expressed in units of m water/s, estimated as

ξ L V = ξ V   [ 1 + ( ξ V / ξ L ) 0.5 + 6.55 ( ξ V / ξ L ) 0.225 ] 2

where ξ L and ξ L [m water/s] are the dissipated powers per unit void volume of the packing in single liquid phase flow and single vapor phase flow, respectively. Both parameters are calculated from the Ergun’s equation.

Liquid-solid mass transfer coefficient ( κ j L S ): Lakota and Levec (1990).

(A2) S h S c 1 / 3 = 0.487 ( R e L / h D ) 0.495

where:

S h = κ j L S d p D j ε B 1 − ε B ;   Sc = μ L ρ L D j ;   R e L = u L   ρ L d p μ L 1 1 − ε B

u L , ρ L , μ L are the liquid superficial velocity, density and viscosity, respectively, and h D is the dynamic holdup per unit bed volume whose values were obtained from Figure 1 in Lakota and Levec (1990).

As examples of results from Eq. (A1) and Eq.(A2), κ H 2 LV a v L V = 0.730 s−1, κ H 2 LS a v L S = 1.68   s − 1 , κ H C LS a v L S = 0.609 s − 1 , under the conditions of Figure 5.

Highlights

  1. Modeling and simulation of trickle bed reactors for the purification of 1-butene was presented.

  2. Operation conditions of an actual unit industrial plant were taken as a basis for the simulations.

  3. The performance of the reactor under different operating conditions was analyzed.

  4. An alternative design with two catalytic beds and relatively low operation pressure led to increased 1-butene selectivity.

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Received: 2022-09-29
Accepted: 2023-03-06
Published Online: 2023-04-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijcre-2022-0191
Keywords for this article
1-butene; 1-butyne; 1,3-butadiene; selective hydrogenation; trickle bed reactor

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Articles
  3. Eco friendly synthesis of epoxidized palm oleic acid in acidic ion exchange resin
  4. Two-stage adsorber design for malachite green and methylene blue removal using adsorbents derived from banana peel
  5. Modeling and simulation of trickle bed reactors for the purification of 1-butene
  6. Smith-predictor based enhanced Dual-DOF fractional order control for integrating type CSTRs
  7. Enhancement investigation of mass transfer and mixing performance in the static mixers with three twisted leaves
  8. The influence of the configurations of multiple-impeller on canrenone bioconversion using resting cells of Aspergillus ochraceus
  9. De–NO x conversion of selective catalytic reduction system for diesel engine using dual catalyst coated ceramic monoliths
  10. Experimental study on coal-fired flue gas HCl removal by injecting adsorbent into flue duct
  11. Ferrous and manganese oxalate for efficient heterogenous-Fenton degradation of organic pollutants: composite active site and mechanism perception
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