The modeling of oxidative dehydrogenation of propane over the VO
x
/γ-Al2O3 catalyst
in a bubbling fluidized bed was studied. The performance of the fluidized
bed reactor was studied by using three different fluidization models
with different hydrodynamic assumptions: simple two-phase (STP) model,
dynamic two-phase (DTP) model, and El-Halwagi and El-Rifai [simplified
Halwagi (SH)] model. The models were validated using previously published
experimental data. The effects of temperature, gas velocity, propane
and oxygen concentration and bed height on propane conversion, product
selectivity, and propylene yield were investigated and discussed.
The obtained results indicated that the SH model under-predicted the
propane conversion. The STP model with simplified hydrodynamic assumptions
was only suitable when reaction temperature was low. The DTP model
considering dynamically distribution of gas and solid could predict
propane conversion and propylene selectivity with average relative
errors of 16 and 2.5%, respectively, over a wide range of experimental
data, which were more accurate than those of the STP and SH models.