RU2393010C2 - Reactor for gas phase catalytic processes - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: process engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to gas phase catalytic processes and can be used in chemical, petrochemical and other industrial branches. Said reactor comprises stock inlet device, final product outlet device, catalyst location, heat feed or withdrawal assembly representing multiple heat pipes that pass through aforesaid catalyst location. Said heat pipes represent wedge-like elements oriented radially with respect to casing axis of symmetry.

EFFECT: constant gas flow rate in reactor and equal heat exchange, constant reaction rate over entire length of gap.

8 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of technological equipment for the implementation of gas-phase catalytic processes and can be used in chemical, petrochemical and other industries using gas-phase catalytic processes.

Known (RU, utility model patent 4746) is the installation for the catalytic production of high-octane gasoline from hydrocarbon feedstocks, including furnaces, recuperative heat exchangers, catalytic reactors, a gas separator, a distillation column with a bottom section steam heater and a top reflux condenser, as well as heat exchangers and connecting pipelines with shut-off regulating fittings. In addition, it further comprises an unstable catalysis refrigerator connected to catalytic reactors and a gas separator, and the installation may also include a regeneration gas preparation unit connected to the catalytic reactors through furnaces and containing an air compressor, a membrane air separation unit, and receivers.

A disadvantage of the known installation should be recognized as its low efficiency, due to imperfection of the design.

Known (SU, copyright 852341) is a reactor, preferably designed for the polymerization and copolymerization of gaseous monomers. The specified reactor contains a housing with input and output means of a circulating gaseous medium, initial components and a finished product, a shaft with mixing blades made in the form of heat pipes, a heat exchanger and a pump, the heat pipes being installed vertically and concentrically with respect to the shaft at different radii of rotation, and the means the input and output of the gaseous medium are located diametrically in the upper part of the reactor, while the upper ends of these heat pipes are located between these means.

A disadvantage of the known reactor should be recognized as its low efficiency, due to imperfection of the design.

The closest analogue of the developed device can be recognized (RU, patent 2278726), a reactor for the implementation of gas-phase catalytic processes, comprising a housing, input means for the initial components and means for outputting the finished product, a heat supply or removal unit made in the form of a plurality of heat pipes. The known reactor also contains a catalyst deposited on the heat pipes and / or on the body in the form of a coating, while the heat pipes are staggered throughout the volume of the body, and their total surface area located in the catalytic zone is selected in such a way that provides removal from the catalytic zone of the amount of thermal energy necessary for carrying out the catalytic process.

A disadvantage of the known device should be the inability to prevent the diffusion of hydrogen, which is in the reactor gas, into the heat pipes, as well as the inability to efficiently transfer heat from the heat pipes to the catalyst.

The technical problem solved by the developed reactor design is to increase the efficiency of the reactor and improve the quality of the products.

The technical result obtained by implementing the developed reactor design is to provide the possibility of obtaining a constant gas flow rate in the reactor and the same heat transfer, which ensures a constant reaction rate along the entire length of the gap.

To achieve the specified technical result, it is proposed to use a reactor for carrying out gas-phase catalytic processes, comprising a housing, input means for initial components, means for outputting the finished product, a catalyst placement area, a heat supply or removal unit made in the form of a plurality of heat pipes passing through the catalyst placement area, however, the total surface area of the heat pipes located in the catalytic zone does not allow the entry or exit of the catalytic zone the amount of thermal energy required for carrying out the catalytic process, the heat pipes being made in the form of wedge-shaped elements oriented radially relative to the axis of symmetry of the vessel and mounted on the reactor vessel. Depending on the angle of the wedge-shaped element, the gap between the surfaces of adjacent wedge-shaped elements is made of constant or variable width. In a preferred embodiment, the catalyst is placed in the gap between the surfaces of adjacent wedge-shaped elements. To support the catalyst, any support element can be used, in particular a plate placed radially in the reactor space between the surfaces of adjacent heat pipes. However, the catalyst may also be applied to the surface of the heat pipes. The input means of the starting components is preferably made in the form of a compartment separated from the space filled with heat pipes and a catalyst, a perforated membrane. The specified compartment is made in the form of a cylinder, which is a part of the reactor vessel, and is separated from the catalytic space of the reactor by a perforated membrane. However, a variant of the implementation of the means for introducing the initial components in the form of a set of inlet pipes fixed, preferably uniformly at the end of the reactor vessel, is possible. In a similar manner, a means of withdrawing reaction products can be performed. The lateral surfaces of the heat pipes can be corrugated. A possible implementation of the device is when the side surfaces of the heat pipes are made in the form of a spiral curled about the axis of the reactor.

In addition to coating with a catalyst, the surface of the heat pipes can be covered by a heat-conducting cover that insulates the surface of the metal of the heat pipe from the reaction space of the reactor. This option is applicable for the case when the contact of the reaction mixture and the metal of which the heat pipe is made is undesirable, since this contact slows down or hinders the passage of the catalytic process in the gas.

Figure 1 and figure 2 shows the design of the developed reactor, with the following notation: reactor vessel 1, wedge-shaped heat pipes 2, catalyst 3, slots between the wedges 4, thermal insulation 5, perforated channel 6 for the output of the reaction product, channel 7 for the input of the starting products, the top cover 8 on the wedge-shaped heat pipes, the catalyst table 9.

The initial components enter the reactor through the annular inlet pipe 7, then they enter the catalyst 3, which is located between the wedge-shaped heat pipes 2. The direction of flow of the reactor gas is shown by arrows. The reaction products exit the reactor through a perforated channel (pipe) 6, perforation is only in the catalyst zone. Thermal insulation 5 is applied to the reactor vessel 1. In the case of an endothermic reaction, heat is supplied to the bottom of the converter. The reaction zone with the catalyst is separated from the heat supply zone by the catalyst table 9. The wedge-shaped heat pipes and the gaps between them are closed by a cover 8.

The difference between the developed reactor for the implementation of gas-phase catalytic processes, comprising a housing, input means for the starting components, means for outputting the finished product, a heat supply or removal unit, a catalyst placement area, and the heat supply or removal unit made in the form of a plurality of heat pipes, consists in the design of the heat pipes. Namely - heat pipes are made in the form of wedge-shaped elements. This difference makes it possible to obtain the same gaps between the surfaces of adjacent heat pipes, which ensures a constant gas flow rate in the reactor and the same heat transfer and, correspondingly, the reaction rate along the entire length of the gap throughout the reactor volume, while the set gap size ensures uniform heating of the entire catalyst throughout reactor volume, which also contributes to a constant reaction rate.

Sensors can be additionally located in the housing, which allow controlling the technological process (sensors of temperature, pressure, content of individual components of the gas mixture at the inlet and outlet of the reactor). Around and / or inside the housing can be additionally located means for controlling the process temperature. The process temperature in the reactor can be changed by changing the temperature of the heat pipes.

The term “heat pipe” used corresponds to the value generally accepted in science and technology (see, for example, the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary “Polytechnic”. M: Scientific publication “Big Russian Encyclopedia”, 1998, p. 544).

In addition to gas-phase catalytic processes, this reactor can also be used for liquid-phase catalytic processes.

The use of heat pipes with a pre-selected composition of the working fluids contained in them allows you to accurately dose the amount of heat energy supplied to the catalytic zone, which ensures the chemical process under optimal conditions with a reduced content of by-products and with a maximum yield of the target product.

The proposed reactor with an endothermic chemical reaction works as follows. Preliminarily determine the optimal thermal conditions of the process. A working fluid is selected whose thermophysical properties correspond to the optimum reaction temperature. The total area of the heat pipes located in the catalytic zone is calculated. Create a catalytic zone by placing and fixing the catalyst in it. If necessary, using additional means of temperature control create the necessary thermal regime in the housing. Heat energy is brought to the ends of the heat pipes placed outside the reactor vessel. The initial components are fed into the housing, they are passed through the catalytic zone, adjusting, if necessary, according to the readings of the sensors, the feed modes of the initial components. The finished product is removed from the housing, if necessary, separating it from the unreacted starting components. When an exothermic reaction occurs in a reactor, heat pipes remove heat from the reactor according to the above scheme.

Said wedge-shaped heat pipes, in particular, can be manufactured using electroforming.

The process of carrying out catalytic reactions in the developed device has no fundamental differences from the use of catalytic reactors with heat pipes.

Using the reactor of the proposed design allows you to quickly achieve a constant temperature in the catalyst space over the entire volume of the reactor, which leads to an increase in the percentage of yield of the finished product by increasing the proportion of unreacted starting components, as well as reducing the time the reactor reaches the operating mode.

Claims (8)

1. A reactor for the implementation of gas-phase catalytic processes, comprising a housing, input means for the starting components, means for outputting the finished product, a catalyst placement area, a heat supply or removal unit made in the form of a plurality of heat pipes passing through the catalyst placement area, and the total surface area heat pipes located in the catalytic zone, provides the input or removal from the catalytic zone of the amount of heat needed for the catalytic process ergii, characterized in that the heat pipes are designed as wedge elements oriented radially relative to the axis of symmetry of the housing. 2. The reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that the gap between the surfaces of adjacent wedge-shaped elements is made of constant width. 3. The reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that the gap between the surfaces of adjacent wedge-shaped elements is made of variable width. 4. The reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalyst is placed in the gap between the surfaces of adjacent wedge-shaped elements. 5. The reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that the input means of the initial components is made in the form of a compartment separated from the space filled with heat pipes and a catalyst, a perforated membrane. 6. The reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for outputting the finished product is made in the form of a compartment separated from the space filled with heat pipes and a catalyst, a perforated membrane. 7. The reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that the side surfaces of the heat pipes are corrugated. 8. The reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that the side surfaces of the heat pipes are made in the form of a spiral curled about the axis of the reactor.

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