Optimal Distribution of Catalyst and Adsorbent in an Adsorptive Reactor at the Reactor Level

Abstract

The concept of adsorptive reactors has attracted considerable attention as a hybrid process to enhance reaction selectivity and conversion for heterogeneously catalyzed gas-phase reactions. The performance of adsorptive reactors may be enhanced by the nonuniform distribution of catalyst and adsorbent particles within the reactor and general guidelines for determining a suitable distribution are provided in this article. Simulation and optimization studies have been carried out using Claus process and its parametric variants as test cases. The study indicates the conditions under which a nonuniform distribution of catalyst and adsorbent is favorable for adsorptive reactor performance. It also shows that a nonuniform distribution is not always essential for the optimal adsorptive reactor performance and that under certain conditions a simple homogeneous distribution may well suffice.

Reactive adsorption for the selective dehydration of sugars to furans: Modeling and experiments

“…The framework for analysis of a coupled reaction and adsorption operation has been well‐developed . The selectivity of gas‐phase reactions, such as steam methane reforming, and liquid phase esterification reactions, has been shown to benefit from the incorporation of an adsorbent in the reactor.…”

Structural and Operational Optimality of Adsorptive Reactors

“…Adsorptive reactors have been proposed for a variety of industrially important reactions, which have been concisely reviewed elsewhere 1. In our own research group, the Claus process, hydrogen cyanide synthesis, and the retro‐shift conversion for CO 2 functionalization have been the subject of detailed theoretical and experimental investigations to improve the conversion by in situ adsorption of the common by‐product, water vapor, on 3A zeolite 12–16. Of these systems, only the Claus process for H 2 S‐SO 2 synproportionation was considered worthy of further examination since the adsorptive HCN synthesis exhibited excessive uncontrollable side‐reactions, whilst the kinetics of the retro‐shift reaction proved too slow at the lower operating temperatures between 200 and 300 °C 12.…”

“…It is well‐known 13, 14 that even in the case of a homogeneous distribution of functionalities, the simplest structuring option for which α has a uniform value at each location in the adsorptive reactor, there exists an optimal value of this adsorbent fraction. The resultant optimal cycle times in this case for the Claus and Deacon reactions were considered to be reference values against which all other results obtained were benchmarked.…”

“…Lawrence et al 14 performed an optimization study of structuring a multifunctional bed, which had been divided into 13 segments, for the Claus reaction and found out that two reaction sections with an intermediate purely adsorptive zone gave the best performance. Furthermore, they identified the conditions under which this reactor‐adsorber sandwich structure is favorable, which suggest the suitability of this arrangement for the Deacon reaction as well.…”

Integrated Carbon Capture and Conversion To Produce Syngas: Novel Process Design, Intensification, and Optimization

“…Intensification can be achieved by combining the salient features of individual process technologies. Examples include multifunctional reactors, − membrane reactors, , layered bed adsorption columns, − sorption-enhanced reaction processes (SERP), − combined separation and storage (CSS), and multimaterial simulated moving bed (MSMB) . In the context of CO 2 utilization, an intensification method would have significant impact if it could combine postcombustion CO 2 capture and CO 2 reforming in a manner that would break the current barrier of high cost and high energy penalty while ensuring a net positive CO 2 utilization.…”