Advances in Process Intensification through Multifunctional Reactor Engineering

Technical Report · Mon Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1018948· OSTI ID:1018948

O'Hern, Timothy ^[1]; Evans, Lindsay ^[1]; Miller, Jim ^[1]; Cooper, Marcia ^[1]; Torczynski, John ^[1]; Pena, Donovan ^[1]; Gill, Walt ^[2]; Groten, Will ^[2]; Judzis, Arvids ^[2]; Foley, Richard ^[2]; Smith, Larry ^[2]; Cross, Will ^[2]; Vogt, T. ^[3]

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1. Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Chemical Research and Licensing, Pasadena, TX (United States)
3. Lummus Technology, Houston, TX (United States)

This project was designed to advance the art of process intensification leading to a new generation of multifunctional chemical reactors utilizing pulse flow. Experimental testing was performed in order to fully characterize the hydrodynamic operating regimes associated with pulse flow for implementation in commercial applications. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) operated a pilot-scale multifunctional reactor experiment for operation with and investigation of pulse flow operation. Validation-quality data sets of the fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer, and chemical kinetics were acquired and shared with Chemical Research and Licensing (CR&L). Experiments in a two-phase air-water system examined the effects of bead diameter in the packing, and viscosity. Pressure signals were used to detect pulsing. Three-phase experiments used immiscible organic and aqueous liquids, and air or nitrogen as the gas phase. Hydrodynamic studies of flow regimes and holdup were performed for different types of packing, and mass transfer measurements were performed for a woven packing. These studies substantiated the improvements in mass transfer anticipated for pulse flow in multifunctional reactors for the acid-catalyzed C4 paraffin/olefin alkylation process. CR&L developed packings for this alkylation process, utilizing their alkylation process pilot facilities in Pasadena, TX. These packings were evaluated in the pilot-scale multifunctional reactor experiments established by Sandia to develop a more fundamental understanding of their role in process intensification. Lummus utilized the alkylation technology developed by CR&L to design and optimize the full commercial process utilizing multifunctional reactors containing the packings developed by CR&L and evaluated by Sandia. This hydrodynamic information has been developed for multifunctional chemical reactors utilizing pulse flow, for the acid-catalyzed C4 paraffin/olefin alkylation process, and is now accessible for use in other technologies.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Chemical Research and Licensing, Pasadena, TX (United States); Lummus Technology, Houston, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE EE Office of Industrial Technologies (EE-2F)
• DOE Contract Number: FC36-04GO14152
• OSTI ID: 1018948
• Report Number(s): DOE/GO/14152-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AIR
ALKYLATION
CHEMICAL REACTORS
DESIGN
HYDRODYNAMICS
IMPLEMENTATION
KINETICS
LICENSING
MASS TRANSFER
NITROGEN
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES
TESTING
VISCOSITY
alkylation
fluid dynamics
heat and mass transfer
chemical kinetics
multifunctional reactors
process intensification