Radial Flow Moving-Bed Reactor for Reduced Catalyst Bed Thickness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Radial-bed reactors face challenges in maintaining sufficient pressure drop and catalyst distribution for reduced capacities, limiting the minimum thickness of the catalytic bed to 400 mm, which restricts reactor sizing and maintenance efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A small-size moving-bed reactor design with a radial flow of feedstock and gravitational flow of catalyst, divided into three hemispheric bodies connected by flanges, allowing for a catalytic bed thickness between 100 and 400 mm, enabling higher space velocities and easier maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the catalytic bed thickness is reduced to enable smaller reactor sizing, then the reactor capacity and space velocity can be reduced, but the pressure drop becomes insufficient to maintain proper gas distribution in the catalytic bed
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor is divided into multiple segments along its height, with each segment containing a catalytic bed of optimized thickness. This segmentation allows the total reactor volume to be reduced while maintaining sufficient pressure drop within each segment to ensure proper gas distribution, thereby resolving the contradiction between compact sizing and adequate pressure drop.
2Volume of moving object
If the catalytic bed thickness is reduced below 400 mm to achieve smaller reactor dimensions, then the reactor can be downsized, but maintenance operations become impossible as operators cannot access the space between screens
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor is divided into multiple removable segments that can be disassembled for maintenance. This segmentation allows operators to access and maintain the screens and internal components without requiring a minimum 400 mm thickness, enabling both compact reactor sizing and ease of maintenance through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The reactor employs movable and removable internal components, particularly the screens and catalytic bed segments, which can be dynamically accessed and removed for maintenance. This dynamic design allows compact dimensions while maintaining serviceability, as components can be extracted without disassembling the entire reactor structure.
3Productivity
If the catalytic bed is shortened to increase space velocity for reduced capacity operations, then the reactor can handle lower feedstock rates, but the pressure drop criterion of 20-80 mbar cannot be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The catalytic bed is segmented into multiple shorter sections stacked vertically. Each segment maintains an optimized thickness that generates sufficient pressure drop (20-80 mbar) for proper gas distribution, while the cumulative effect of multiple segments achieves the required space velocity for reduced capacity operations. This segmentation allows both high space velocity and adequate pressure drop to coexist.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design achieves higher space velocities (up to 100 h−1) and facilitates easier maintenance by allowing for smaller catalytic bed thickness, overcoming the limitations of traditional radial-bed reactors in terms of pressure drop and catalyst distribution.
Implementation Method 1
the catalyst in gravitational flow are separated by the inner screen... the catalyst flows vertically from top to bottom, and is obtained as a result of the weight alone of the catalyst bed
Data Source
AI summary
This invention describes a moving-bed catalyst reactor having radial flow of the feedstock called moving-bed radial reactor, consisting of 3 zones called upper hemispheric body (III), lateral zone (II), and lower hemispheric body (I), the three zones being connected together by means of flanges.