Heat exchanger with radially arranged elements for isothermal chemical reactors

Abstract

An isothermal chemical reactor (1) comprising an array of radially arranged plate-like heat exchange elements (11) inside a reaction space, each element comprising feeding and collecting ducts and a bundle of parallel tubes (15) defining channels (12) for a heat exchange medium, the tubes (15) having an elongated cross section and being disposed with a variable orientation relative to the radial direction of the reactor, so that inner tubes near the axis of the reactor have the crosssection major axis aligned with said radial direction, and outer tubes have the same axis perpendicular to the radial direction. The preferred structure of a plate-like heat exchange element is also disclosed.