Bharati Vidyapeeth

(Deemed to be University ), Pune (India)

College
Title of Engineering
of Slide ……….

Subject : Multiphase Reaction Engineering

Unit-I
PRESENTATION
by

Dr. Veena A. Shinde

Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
 Presentation Outline
Introduction
Multiphase (Catalytic) Processes
Multiphase Reactors
Fixed-bed Reactors
Steady State Operation with Single-phase Gas Flow
B. Reverse Flow Reactors
Fixed Beds with Two-phase Flow
Comparison of Upflow Packed Bubble Column and
Trickle-Bed Reactor
Unsteady State Operation of Trickle-Bed Reactors
 Introduction

Multiphase systems are ever present in the process industry

and are found in a number of diverse areas of commerce.
Typical application areas include the manufacture of
petroleum-based products and fuels, the production of
commodity and specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
herbicides and pesticides, refining of ores, production of
polymers and other materials, and pollution abatement.
In most of these applications, a multiphase chemical reactor
is the heart of the process.
This is the case since molecular transformations that occur in
the reactor create new value-added products.
 Multiphase (Catalytic) Processes

Processes based upon multiphase reactions occur in a broad

range of application areas and form the basis for manufacture
of a large variety of intermediate and consumer end products.
Some examples of multiphase reactor technology uses include:
(1) Upgrading and conversion of petroleum feed stocks and
intermediates.
(2) Conversion of coal-derived chemicals or synthesis gas into
fuels, hydrocarbons, and oxygenates.
(3) Manufacture of bulk commodity chemicals that serve as
monomers and other basic building blocks for higher
chemicals and polymers.
 Multiphase (Catalytic) Processes

(4) Manufacture of pharmaceuticals or chemicals that are used

in fine and specialty chemical markets as drugs or
pharmaceuticals.
(5) Conversion of undesired chemical or petroleum processing
by-products into environmentally acceptable or recyclable
products.
 Multiphase Reactors

A multiphase reactor is any vessel or region in space where

more than one phase (gas, liquid, or solid) come into contact
and result in a change in chemical composition of one or
more phases. In this review, more emphasis is placed on
three-phase systems vs. two-phase systems.
To model the performance of any multiphase reactor, which
is interpreted here as the development of quantitative
relations that relate the volumetric productivity, conversion
and selectivity to input and operating parameters, the
equations for species mass balances and the energy balance
must be developed and solved for the reactor
 Multiphase Reactors
The universal generic conservation equation applied to any
conserved property (e.g., species mass) for a particular phase i
in a multiphase reactor is straightforward and gives as:
(rate of output by phase i) –(rate of input by phase i) + (net rate
of inter phase transport into phase i) + (net rate of generation in
phase i) = (rate of accumulation in phase i) -----------(eq1)
The multiphase reactors to be considered are divided into two
basic types: (1) those with fixed beds of catalyst, (2) those with
moving catalysts.
In the case of three-phase systems, only those reactors having
solid as catalyst and not as reactants will be considered. As
mentioned above, emphasis is placed on improved
understanding of the LHS of Eq. (1).
 Fixed-bed Reactors

Two types are 1)Steady state operation with single-phase gas

flow 2) Reverse flow reactors

1) Steady state operation with single-phase gas flow

Catalytic fixed-bed reactors for conversion of gaseous

reactants are important part of the chemical process
industry. Both wall-cooled multi tubular reactors and staged
adiabatic beds integrated with heat exchangers or
regenerators are used.
 Continued…

Wall-cooled tubular fixed beds are used in partial

oxidations, such as ethylene oxide production, butane
oxidation to maleic anhydride, methanol and naphthalene
oxidations, vinyl acetate synthesis, nitrobenzene and phenol
hydrogenations, and many other applications.

Adiabatic fixed beds are employed in sulfuric acid

production, ammonia and methanol synthesis, and in the
manufacture of a number of commodity chemicals.
 2) Reverse flow reactors
The feedflow
Reverse gasreactor
periodically enters
the opposing ends of a standard
adiabatic fixed bed and is cycled
by opening and closing the valve
pairs A and B so that flow
occurs either upward through
the reactor during one semi-
cycle or downward during the
other semi-cycle.
 Reverse flow reactors continued…

The main advantages are that an inverted U temperature profile

can be captured in the bed and that the maximum temperature
can exceed the adiabatic temperature rise of the steady state
operation.

The inverted U temperature profile is beneficial in reaching high

conversions for an exothermic reaction.

A process utilizing this phenomenon has been commercialized for

sulfur dioxide oxidation.
 Reverse flow reactors continued…

The high temperature that can be reached makes the reverse

flow reactor suitable for catalytic combustion of dilute feeds,
when otherwise additional energy would be needed to
promote steady state combustion. This advantage of reverse
flow is utilized in commercial scale VOC abatement.

The ability to capture the hot spot within the fixed bed by flow
reversal relies heavily on the large difference in the
characteristic time for convective mass flow and energy
transport along the reactor.
Fixed-bed Reactors with two phase flow
 Fixed-bed Reactors with two phase flow

The most frequently used reactors of this type are trickle beds
where gas and liquid reactants flow cocurrently downward
through the catalyst packing. This mode of operation allows
for a variety of flow regimes and is the most flexible with
respect to varying throughput demands.

Upflow reactors or so-called packed bubble-flow reactors

are used when it is necessary to assure complete external
wetting of the catalyst and at the same time have high liquid
holdup.
 Fixed-bed Reactors with two phase flow

Countercurrent flow operation provides the opportunity for

selective removal of by-products that may act as catalyst
inhibitor, e.g., in desulfurization processes in petroleum
refining where hydrogen sulfide may have an inhibitory
effect. Most importantly, with proper catalyst selection,

Countercurrent operation provides the opportunity for in

situ separation via catalytic distillation
Problem Statement
Solution
Solution
Solution
Problem Statement
 Problem Statement
Problem 1: In an isothermal batch reactor 70% of a liquid
reactant is converted in 13 min. What space time and space
velocity are needed to effect this conversion in a plug flow
reactor and in a mixed flow reaction
Batch Reactor -ln(1-XA)= kt
k= 0.0926 min

MFR, T= CAo XA/-rA A B -rA = kCA

T= CAo XA/k CA
T= CAo XA/ k CAo(1- XA)
T= XA/k (1-XA) = 0.7/ 0.0926(1- 0.7) = 25. 2 min