Riser Reactor with a Multistage Oxygen Feeding Strategy for the Oxidative Coupling of Methane

Abstract

Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is characterized by a high temperature and a strongly exothermic reaction. However, the desired C 2 H 4 may easily react to unwanted oxidation products. Due to vigorous gas−solids contacting, excellent heat and mass transfer characteristics, and low gas back-mixing, the riser reactor is adopted in the OCM process. Hydrodynamics and reactor performance of the riser are investigated by simulation. In the riser reactor, the excellent hydrodynamics results in a decrease in consecutive reactions and the heat is released. The multistage oxygen feeding strategy is proposed to improve reactor performance. Compared with the single-stage oxygen feeding, the C 2 yield increases by 9.5% in the three-stage oxygen feeding. Moreover, the optimal position of oxygen feeding is presented.