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US 2013/0280148 A1Published application
Tube bundle reactor having a structured packing
AssigneeLurgi GmbH
InventorsFrank Castillo-Welter, Dominic Walter, Christoph Steden, Rudolf Zeyen
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Abstract
A tubular reactor for carrying out a catalytically supported, homogeneous chemical reaction in the gas phase at an elevated temperature and a subsequent cooling, wherein the reactor is arranged upright, and therefore the tubes extend vertically and the as flows downward through the tubes. The tubes are filled with a catalyst bed in the upper part thereof extending in the reaction zone of the reactor and are filled with a structured packing in the lower part, the cooling zone of the reactor.
Claims10
1:
- A tubular reactor for carrying out a heterogeneously catalyzed gas phase reaction, the tubular reactor comprising:
- a plurality of reactor tubes including a reaction zone and a cooling zone,
- wherein the reactor tubes are arranged vertically upright,
- wherein the tubular reactor is configured such that a gaseous reaction mixture flows through the reactor tubes from top to bottom and, in doing so, passes first through the reaction zone and then through the cooling zone,
- wherein, in an upper part of the reactor tubes, extending in a reaction zone of the tubular reactor, the reactor tubes are filled with a catalyst bed of solid, granular catalyst,
- wherein, in a lower part of the reactor tubes, corresponding to the cooling zone of the reactor, the reactor tubes are filled with a structured packing,
- wherein the catalyst bed and the structured packing each are held in their position by a gas-permeable, removable holder, and
- wherein the reactor tubes are heated in endothermic reactions, and cooled in exothermic reactions, by indirect heat exchange with a heat-transfer medium in the reaction zone, and are cooled in the cooling zone of the reactor.
5 more elements
2:
- The tubular reactor of claim 1, wherein the reaction zone of the reactor is divided into a plurality of succeeding sections,
- wherein on a tube side the kind and quantity of the catalyst material varies from section to section, and
- wherein on a shell side each section is equipped with a separately adjustable heat transfer system.
3:
- The tubular reactor of claim 1, wherein the structured packing is split into several parts along its longitudinal axis.
4:
- A method for replacing the structured packing in a cooling zone of a tubular reactor of claim 1, the method comprising:
- a) shutting down the tubular reactor;
- b) opening an access to the cooling zone of the reactor on a bottom side of the tubular reactor;
- c) removing the structured packing;
- d) inserting a new structured packing or a cleaned original packing;
- e) closing the access to the cooling zone of the reactor on the bottom side of the tubular reactor;
- and
- f) recommissioning the tubular reactor.
5 more elements
5:
- A method of carrying out a selective oxidation reaction, the method comprising:
- introducing a compound into the tubular reactor of claim 1.
6:
- The method of claim 5, wherein the selective oxidation reaction is the conversion of propylene to
- acrolein,
- acrylic acid, or
- acrolein and acrylic acid.
1 more element
7:
- The method of claim 5, wherein the selective oxidation reaction is the conversion of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride.
8:
- The method of claim 5, wherein the selective oxidation reaction is the conversion of p-xylene to terephthalic acid.
9:
- The method of claim 5, further comprising cooling, inserting, or cooling and inserting the tubular reactor.
10:
- The tubular reactor of claim 2, wherein the structured packing is split into several parts along its longitudinal axis.