Reaction Tower Direct Gas Heating for Faster Catalyst Startup
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reaction towers require a large-scale heater and significant time to heat the catalyst due to the use of thermal mediums, prolonging the startup time for generating product gas.
Innovation Solution
A generation device with a reaction tower that includes a thermally insulating member covering the outer periphery of the reaction vessel, where heated raw material gas directly raises the catalyst temperature, and a jacket portion for thermal medium circulation, allowing direct contact between the raw material gas and catalyst to accelerate heating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a thermal medium is used to heat the catalyst in the reaction tower, then the catalyst temperature can be raised, but a large-scale heater is required and it takes significant time to heat the thermal medium
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the thermal medium circulation system from the heating process, allowing direct injection of heated raw material gas into the reaction tower to heat the catalyst directly, eliminating the time-consuming thermal medium circulation step
Solution Approach 2:
The raw material gas is pre-heated before injection into the reaction tower, so that when it contacts the catalyst, it immediately transfers heat to raise the catalyst temperature to the required level, avoiding the need to heat a large volume of thermal medium first
2Temperature
If a large-scale heater is used to heat the thermal medium, then the catalyst can be heated, but the device complexity and scale increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the large-scale heater and thermal medium circulation system from the device, replacing them with a simpler direct gas injection system that achieves the same heating effect with much reduced complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The raw material gas itself serves as the heating medium, eliminating the need for a separate thermal medium and large-scale heater, as the gas provides both the reactant function and the heating function
3Productivity
If the reaction tower is fully insulated, then heating efficiency improves, but heat dissipation control becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies thermal insulation selectively to specific regions of the reaction tower rather than uniformly insulating the entire structure, allowing different zones to have different thermal characteristics for optimized heating efficiency and temperature control
Solution Approach 2:
The insulation system is designed to be adjustable or removable in certain areas, allowing the thermal insulation properties to be dynamically modified based on operational requirements for heat retention or heat dissipation
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 approach significantly reduces the time required to heat the catalyst, enabling faster startup and generation of product gas by utilizing the exothermic reaction of the raw material gas.
Implementation Method 1
the heated raw material gas raises a temperature of the catalyst in the reaction tower, and, accordingly, direct contact between the heated raw material gas and the catalyst shortens a time required for the temperature of the catalyst to reach a reaction start temperature
Implementation Method 2
due to the thermally insulating member covering the portion of the outer periphery of the reaction vessel filled with the catalyst, the outer periphery of the reaction vessel is thermally insulated
Implementation Method 3
a reaction tower that generates a product gas by an exothermic reaction of a raw material gas in a catalyst
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided is a technology of shortening a time required to heat a catalyst in a reaction tower. A generation device includes the reaction tower that generates a product gas by an exothermic reaction of a raw material gas in the catalyst and a raw material gas supply unit that heats the raw material gas and supplies the heated raw material gas to the reaction tower, and the reaction tower includes a reaction vessel that is filled with the catalyst and into which the raw material gas flows, a jacket portion that covers a portion of an outer periphery of the reaction vessel and in which a thermal medium flows, and a thermally insulating member covering another portion of the outer periphery of the reaction vessel.