GB809024A - Improvements in or relating to the treatment of a gaseous or vaporous material - Google Patents

Abstract

<PICT:0809024/III/1> A system of interconnected reaction zones for the continuous sequential treatment of a gaseous or vaporous material comprises at least three contacting zones all of which are adapted to be connected for flow in series, with one of said zones serving as a reserve zone and each of said zones being adapted to be connected for flow in parallel with an adjacent zone, whereby any one of the zones in the series may be cast out of the series flow for decontamination and the reserve zone not in the series may be cut in for series flow without interrupting the treatment of the gaseous or vaporous material flowing through the series. The system may be used in hydrocarbon treatments such as desulphurization, isomerization, catalytic cracking, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, and aromatization, and is particularly applicable to a hydroforming process using platinum on a carrier such as alumina, silica, zinc spinel, kieselguhr or pumice. In a preferred embodiment using a naphtha fraction having an initial boiling point of 207 DEG F. and an end point of 273 DEG F. is fed through a line 5 to a convection heated section 9 and then to a radiantly heated section 14 in which the feed is combined with a recycle gas containing hydrogen supplied by means of a line 15. This combined stream is passed through line 19 and then to either reactor 29 or 30 through pipe 23 or 24 respectively. After reaction the product leaves through line 35 or 55 and is supplied to a second radiantly heated zone 38 from which the initial product can be made to proceed to either reactor 30 or 52 by way of pipes 46 and 47 respectively. In a similar fashion this second product may be conveyed to a third radiantly heated zone 63 and then to either reactor 52 or 74. The final product is discharged from a pipe 85. Thus any one of the four reactors can be cut out of serial flow and regenerated by means of a regenerating gas entering through a pipe 95 without stopping the serial flow through the remaining three reactors.ALSO:A system of interconnected reaction zones for a continuous sequential catalytic reforming process comprises at least three contacting zones all of said zones being adapted to be connected for flow in series with one of said zones serving as a reserve zone and each of said zones being adapted to be connected for flow in parallel with an adjacent zone, whereby any one of the zones in the series may be cut out of the series flow for decontamination and the reserve zone not in the series may be cut in for series flow without interrupting the treatment of the gaseous or vaporous material flowing through the series. The feed material may be a light hydrocarbon oil such as gasoline, naphtha or kerosene having an initial boiling-point of 75 DEG to 275 DEG F. and an end point of 320 DEG to 480 DEG F. and the reforming is preferably carried out using a platinum catalyst on a carrier material such as alumina, silica, zinc <PICT:0809024/IV (b)/1> spinel, kieselguhr or pumice. In a preferred embodiment, a naphtha having a boiling range of 207 DEG to 273 DEG F. is fed through a line 5 to a convection heated section 9 and then to a radiantly heated section 14 in which the feed is combined with a recycle gas containing hydrogen supplied by means of a line 15. This combined stream is passed through line 19 and then to either reactor 29 or 30 through pipe 23 or 24 respectively. After reaction the product leaves through line 35 or 55 and is supplied to a second radiantly heated zone 38 from which the initial product can be made to proceed to either reactor 30 or 52 by way of pipes 46 and 47 respectively. In a similar fashion this second product may be conveyed to a third radiantly heated zone 63 and then to either reactor 52 or 74. The final product is discharged from a pipe 85. Thus any one of the four reactors can be cut out of series flow and regenerated by means of a regenerating gas entering through a pipe 95 without stopping the series flow through the remaining three reactors.