ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

ADDIS ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL AND BIOENGINEERING 
Group Assignment II

Design of Fixed Bed Catalytic Reactor (adiabatic and

Non-isothermal)
Process Engineering (PhD), Catalysis (ChEg 8101)
By
☞ Tesfaye Kasaw
☞ Wubshet Alemu
☞ Yohannes Assefa

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Outline of the presentation
 Introduction
 Advantage
 Limitation and dis advantage
 Overcoming dis advantage/limitation
 Application of fixed bed catalytic reactor
 Detail derivation
 Design simulation with example
 Introduction
Many reactions are too slow to be commercially viable,
no matter how much we desire the product.
A rate expression will generally be based on the
amount of catalyst instead of a reactor volume.
In a fixed-bed reactor the catalyst pellets are held in place
and do not move with respect to a fixed reference frame.
Material and energy balances are required for both the
fluid, which occupies the interstitial region between
catalyst particles, and the catalyst particles, in which the
reactions occur.
For economical production of large amounts of
product, they are usually the first choice, particularly
for gas-phase reactions.
Fixed-bed Reactor
Cont.…
In a “one-phase” or pseudo homogeneous model, intra
particle gradients are ignored, so that everywhere in the
catalyst bed, the value of concentration (CA) or
temperature (T) is the same as the local value for bulk
fluid (CAb or T). The actual two-phase system (fluid and
catalyst) is treated as though it were just one phase.

In a two-phase or heterogeneous model, intra particle

gradients are allowed, so that, locally, within the
particle, (CA # CAb) and (T # Tb). The effects of these
gradients are reflected in the particle effectiveness
factor, η or an overall effectiveness factor, Ω.
 Mode of operation
Adiabatic Operation Non-adiabatic Operation
In adiabatic operation, In non-adiabatic operation,
no attempt is made to heat transfer for control of T
adjust T within the bed is accomplished within the
by means of heat bed itself. This means that
transfer. The the reactor is essentially a
temperature thus shell-and-tube exchanger,
increases for an with catalyst particles either
exothermic reaction and inside or outside the tubes,
decreases for an and with a heating or cooling
endothermic reaction. fluid flowing in the shell or in
the tubes accordingly.
 Advantages Packed Bed Reactor
By using a packed bed reactor is a higher conversion
per weight of catalyst than another catalytic reactor.
The reaction rate is based on the amount of the solid
catalyst rather than the volume of the reactor.
Low operating cost and low maintenance by using
this kind of reactor.
The process using a packed bed reactor operates
continuously.
Only practical, an economic reactor at very high
pressures.
The Usually, high ratio of catalyst to reactants long
residence time to complete reaction.
Challenges/Limitations
For this reactor which is a packed bed, it consists of
three aspects of limitation which are:
1.Temperature control.
2. Pressure drop.
3. Catalyst deactivation.
The first aspect is temperature control and the
challenge that have to face are:
Endothermic reaction may die out.
Exothermic reaction may damage the reactor.
Selectivity control.
The ways that can be used is by choosing the
suitable types of packed bed reactor.
 Cont.…
the second aspect is pressure drop:
Friction between the gas and particle phase results in

a pressure drop.
High-pressure drop will result in high compression

cost.
Some systems have a low tolerance for pressure drop.

The pressure drop is mainly dependent on reactor

length, particle diameter, void fraction, and gas

velocity.
Disadvantages of Packed Bed Reactor
Large temperature gradient or undesired thermal
gradient may occur.
Inefficient heat exchange
Poor temperature control.
Channeling may occur.
Unit may be difficult to service and clean.
Swelling of the catalyst, deformation of the reactor.
Regeneration or replacement of the catalyst is
difficult- shut down is required.
Pore diffusional problems intrude in large pellets
 Overcoming the Disadvantages
Monolithic supports will overcome the problems of non-uniform flow
patterns, plugging high pressure for small pellets and pore diffusional
problems,
Temperature control problems are overcome with:
 Recycle.
 Internal and external heat exchanges.
 Staged reactors
 Cold shot cooling
 Multiple tray reactor- fluid redistributed and cooled between
stages and catalyst is easily removed which varied from tray to tray.
 Use of diluents.
 Control by selectivity and temporarily poisoning the catalyst.
 APPLICATION OF FIXED BED CATALYTIC REACTOR

Basic Chemical Petrochemical

Petroleum Refining
Industry Industry
• Primary steam • Ethylene oxide • Catalytic reforming
reforming • Ethylene dichloride • Isomerization
• Secondary steam • Vinyl-acetate • Polymerization
reforming • Butadiene • (Hydro)desulfuriza
• Carbon monoxide • Maleic anhydride tion
conversion • Phthalic anhydride • Hydrocracking
• Carbon monoxide • Cyclohexane
methanation
• Styrene
• Ammonia synthesis
• Hydrodealkylation
• Sulfuric acid
synthesis
• Methanol synthesis
• Oxo synthesis

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 Design Considerations

An important design consideration;

 Design model selection
 The pseudo-homogeneous model is selected (which mean that intraparticle
gradients are ignored, so that everywhere in the catalyst bed, the value of
concentration (CA) or temperature (T) is the same as the local value for bulk fluid

(CAb or T). The actual two-phase system (fluid and catalyst) is treated as though it
were just one phase)
 Selection of reactor type (packed bed reactor)
 The reactor is operated adiabatically (no heat removed or added)
 Non- isothermal conditions(variation of temperature along length of reactor and
energy equation is considered)
 pressure drop might be of great importance for
assessment of the reactor operation costs.

 Pressure drop is calculated according to the

following equation (Iordanidis, 2002):

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• Pressure drop along the length of reactor with different
particle sizes.
 
Design, modeling and simulation of adiabatic
and non-isothermal packed bed reactor
Case study: Production of Acetic
Anhydride
Jeffrey’s in a treatment of the design of an acetic anhydride
manufacturing facility, states the at one of the key steps is the
endothermic vapor-phase cracking of acetone to ketene and methane
is,
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He states further that this reaction is first-order with respect to acetone and that
the specific reaction rate is given by

-------------------eq (1)

where k is in reciprocal seconds and T is in Kelvin. It is desired to feed 7850 kg

of acetone per hour to a tubular reactor. The reactor consists of a bank of 1000
one-inch, schedule-40 tubes. We shall consider four cases of heat exchanger
operation. The inlet temperature and pressure are the same for all cases at 1035
K and 162 kPa (1.6 atm) and the entering heating-fluid temperature available is
1250 K. The heat-exchange fluid has a flow rate of 0.111 mol/s, with a heat
capacity of 34.5 J/mol·K.
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A bank of 1000 one-inch, schedule-40 tubes, 1.79 m in length
corresponds to 1.0 m3 (0.001 m3/tube = 1.0 dm3/tube) and
gives 20% conversion. Ketene is unstable and tends to
explode, which is a good reason to keep the conversion low.
However, the pipe material and schedule size should be
checked to learn if they are suitable for these temperatures and
pressures. In addition, the final design and operating
conditions need to be cleared by the safety committee before
operation can begin.

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We have four cases:

 Case 1: The reactor is operated adiabatically(without using heat

– exchanger show how rate is died out).

 Case 2: Constant heat-exchange fluid temperature Ta = 1250 K

 Case 3: Co-current heat exchange with Ta0 = 1250 K

 Case 4: Countercurrent heat exchange with Ta0 = 1250 K

General algorithm is as following;
 
 For the shown system, carry out an energy balance on the volume V.

 
 Heat Absorbed
Heat Capacity of the Reaction
Mixture

Heat Transferred
a) Heat Exchanger:
We will use the heat-exchange fluid balance for co-current
flow as our base case. We will then show how we can very
easily modify our ODE solver program (e.g., Polymath) to
solve for the other cases by simply multiplying the appropriate
line in the code by either zero or minus one.
For co-current flow:
7. Calculation of Energy Balance Parameters:
Thermodynamics:
 The enthalpy is the important parameter and determined from
thermodynamics
Summary of parameter values

   
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 Case 1 Adiabatic
Polymath coding and resulting of adiabatic reactor.
Variable Initial value Final value

Cao 18.8 18.8

Cpa 163 163
Cpc 34.5 34.5
delCpc -9 -9
deltaH 7.414E+04 7.414E+04
Fao 0.0376 0.0376
mc 0.111 0.111
ra -67.304 -0.376
Rate 67.304 0.376
T 1035 904.8156
Ta 1250 1250
To 1035 1035
Ua 0 0
v 0 0.005
X 0 0.2817744
• conversion is very small as we see from table above because the
temperature is decreased since the reaction is endothermic reaction.
• Reaction is died along the reactor volume.
• Heating with heat- exchanger is needed for such adiabatic operation
 
Polymath coding and resulting with constant temperature heat supply
Variable Initial value Final value

Cao 18.8 18.8

Cpa 163 163
Cpc 34.5 34.5
delCpc -9 -9
deltaH 7.414E+04 7.414E+04
Fao 0.0376 0.0376
Mc 0.111 0.111
Ra -67.304 -16.48924
Rate 67.304 16.48924
T 1035 1114.093
Ta 1250 1250
To 1035 1035
Ua 1.65E+04 1.65E+04
V 0 0.001
X 0 0.9508067
 Just after the reactor entrance, the reaction temperature drops as the
sensible heat from the reacting fluid supplies the energy for the
endothermic reaction.
 This temperature drop in the reactor also causes the rate of reaction to
drop. As we move farther down the reactor, the reaction rate drops further
as the reactants are consumed.
 Beyond V = 0.08 dm3, the heat supplied by the constant Ta heat
exchanger becomes greater than that “consumed” by the endothermic
reaction and the reactor temperature rises.
 In the range between V = 0.2 dm3 and
V = 0.6 dm3, the rate decreases slowly owing to the depletion of reactants,
which is
 Adiabatic Energy
Balance
T  T0   ( FA0 X )  H (TR )  C P T  TR   Q
o

FA0
 C
i Pi rxn
W
s

 
 Develop a method to determine the conversion at the
exit of an adiabatic PFR using a thermocouple!

[where Q=Ws=0]

 This Eq. applies to a CSTR, PFR, PBR, and also to

a batch reactor.
 Balance on the Heat Transfer Fluid
What is the heat transfer
fluid usually called?
• “coolant” if

used for
cooling
• “heating

medium” if
used for
heating

• When the heat

transfer fluid
maintains a constant T
& when it does not?
•
 a a

T )V

Derive a differential equation for Ta wrt to V.

Case A: Co-Current Flow:

Assume cooling case:

, from CP definition:

Case B: Counter-Current
Flow:
 Case 3: Co-current Heat Exchange
The energy balance on a co-current exchanger is
with Ta0 = 1250 K at V = 0
Polymath result with co-current flow
Variable Initial value Final value
Cao 18.8 18.8
Cpa 163 163
Cpc 34.5 34.5
delCpc -9 -9
deltaH 7.414E+04 7.414E+04
Fao 0.0376 0.0376
Mc 0.111 0.111
Ra -67.304 -4.899078
Rate 67.304 4.899078
T 1035 984.8171
Ta 1250 996.215
To 1035 1035
Ua 1.65E+04 1.65E+04
V 0 0.001
X 0 0.456201
Profiles down the reactor for an endothermic reaction with co-
current heat exchange; (a) temperature, (b) conversion, and (c)
reaction rate.

a b
Profiles down the reactor for an endothermic reaction with co-
current heat exchange; (a) temperature, (b) conversion, and (c)
reaction rate.

c
 Discussion
In co-current heat exchange, we see that the heat-
exchanger fluid temperature, Ta, drops rapidly initially
and then continues to drop along the length of the reactor
as it supplies the energy to the heat drawn by the
endothermic reaction.
 Eventually, Ta decreases to the point where it approaches
T and the rate of heat exchange is small; as a result, the
temperature of the reactor, T, continues to decrease, as
does the rate, resulting in a small conversion.
Because the reactor temperature for co-current exchange
is lower than that for Case 2 constant Ta, the reaction rate
will be lower.
As a result, significantly less conversion will be achieved
than in the case of constant heat-exchange temperature Ta.
Case 4 Counter current Heat Exchange
For counter-current exchange, we first multiply the Rhs. of

the co-current heat-exchanger energy balance by –1, leaving

the rest of the Polymath program is the same.
Polymath result with counter-current flow
Variable Initial value Final value
Cao 18.8 18.8
Cpa 163 163
Cpc 34.5 34.5
delCpc -9 -9
deltaH 7.414E+04 7.414E+04
Fao 0.0376 0.0376
mc 0.111 0.111
ra -67.304 -31.79235
Rate 67.304 31.79235
T 1035 1034.475
Ta 995.15 1249.999
To 1035 1035
Ua 1.65E+04 1.65E+04
v 0 0.001
X 0 0.3512403
Profiles down the reactor for countercurrent heat exchange; (a)
temperature, (b) conversion, (c) reaction rate.

a b
Profiles down the reactor for countercurrent heat exchange; (a)

temperature, (b) conversion, (c) reaction rate .

c
 Discussion
At the front of the reactor, V = 0, the reaction takes

place very rapidly, drawing energy from the sensible

heat of the gas and causing the gas temperature to drop
because the heat exchanger cannot supply energy at an
equal or greater rate to that being drawn by the
endothermic reaction.
Cont.….
Additional “heat” is lost at the entrance in the case of counter-

current exchange because the temperature of the exchange

fluid, Ta, is below the entering reactor temperature, T.
One notes there is a minimum in the reaction rate, –rA, profile

that is rather flat. In this flat region, the rate is “virtually”

constant between V = 0.2 dm3 and V = 0.8 dm3, because the
increase in k caused by the increase in T is balanced by the
decrease in rate brought about by the consumption of
reactants.
Cont.…
Just past the middle of the reactor, the rate begins to

increase slowly as the reactants become depleted and the

heat exchanger now supplies energy at a rate greater than
the reaction draws energy and, as a result, the temperature
eventually increases.
This lower temperature coupled with the consumption of

reactants causes the rate of reaction to be low in the plateau,

resulting in a lower conversion than either the co-current or
constant Ta heat exchange cases.
 Summary of Cases

Heat Exclusion X T(K) Ta

Adiabatic 0.28 905  

Constant Ta 0.95 1114 1250
Co-current 0.456 985 996
Countercurrent 0.35 1034 995
Thank you !!!

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