Relating to thermocouples for tubular reactors

A method of installing a thermocouple in a reactor tube of a tubular reactor, the method comprising the steps of:

• i) providing a stack of catalyst carriers within the reactor tube of the tubular reactor, each catalyst carrier comprising an inner channel that extends from a top to a bottom of the catalyst carrier;
• ii) providing a weighted tow line comprising a weight and a tow line that trails from the weight;
• iii) inserting the weight into a top of the reactor tube and into the inner channel of an uppermost catalyst carrier of the stack;
• iv) lowering the weighted tow line under gravity through the inner channel of the uppermost catalyst carrier and thereafter through the inner channels of each of the remaining catalyst carriers of the stack until the weighted tow line emerges from a bottom of the reactor tube;
• v) attaching a thermocouple to a trailing end of the tow line;
• vi) engaging the thermocouple into the top of the reactor tube within the inner channel of the uppermost catalyst carrier of the stack;
• and
• vii) pulling on the tow line from below the reactor tube to pull the thermocouple down the reactor tube through the inner channels of the stack of catalyst carriers into a desired installation position of the thermocouple.