Flow distributor for an alkylation reactor or heat exchanger
AssigneeShell Oil Company
InventorsRaghunath Gopal Menon, Richard Addison Sanborn, Raul Jasso Garcia SR.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention focuses on distributing the vapor/liquid flow that emerges from an inlet nozzle across the tube sheet of an alkylation reactor or heat exchanger. The flow distributor takes the two-phase flow that emerges from the inlet nozzle, turns it towards the tubesheet and delivers a uniform mixture across the tube sheet. The flow distributor is located in the channel head of the reactor or heat exchanger. In order to dislodge the liquid film from the wall of the inlet nozzle, trip rings and angular trip tabs are located internally in the flow distributor.
Claims21
In an alkylation reactor comprising a shell having a channel head, said channel head having an inlet nozzle and an outlet nozzle separated by a partition, a tube sheet mounted transversely of said shell for mounting thereon a plurality of u-shaped tubes wherein said tubes traverse the length of said reactor shell from the inlet side of said channel head and makes a U-turn to the outlet side of said channel head, the improvement comprising:
- a flow distributor mounted within the inlet side of said channel head for uniformly distributing, over the inlet side of said tube sheet, any fluid entering said inlet side of said channel head, said flow distributor having an inlet side for sealingly surrounding said inlet nozzle of said inlet side of said channel head, said flow distributor being a diverging horn-shaped duct adapted to turn said fluid flow from said inlet direction toward the tube sheet and toward the input side of said tubes.
In a heat exchanger comprising a shell having a channel head, said channel head having an inlet nozzle and an outlet nozzle separated by a partition, a tube sheet mounted transversely of said shell for mounting thereon a plurality of tubes wherein said tubes traverse the length of said reactor shell from the inlet side of said channel head to an outlet channel head, the improvement comprising:
- a flow distributor mounted within the inlet channel head for uniformly distributing, over the inlet side of said tube sheet, any fluid entering said inlet side of said channel head, said flow distributor having an inlet side for sealingly surrounding said inlet nozzle of said inlet side of said channel head, said flow distributor being a diverging horn-shaped duct adapted to turn said fluid flow from said inlet direction toward the tube sheet and toward the input side of said tubes.
A method for uniformly distributing liquid flow across the tube sheet of an alkylation reactor comprising the steps of:
- directing a liquid flow into the inlet channel head of an alkylation reactor;
- changing the direction of the liquid flow by approximately 90 degrees inside the reactor inlet channel head;
- forcing the liquid flow to diverge while changing its flow direction;
- and
- directing the liquid flow uniformly over the inlet side of a tube sheet.
A method for uniformly distributing liquid flow across the tube sheet of a heat exchanger comprising the steps of:
- directing a liquid flow into the inlet of a heat exchanger;
- changing the direction of the liquid flow by approximately 90 degrees inside the heat exchanger inlet;
- forcing the liquid flow to diverge while changing its flow direction;
- and
- directing the liquid flow uniformly over the inlet side of a tube sheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.