Method of performing a chemical reaction and a reactor for use therewith

A method of conducting a chemical reaction in a feedstock in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst, said method comprising the steps of:

• 1) constructing a catalytic reactor by a method comprising the steps of:
• a) selecting a heterogeneous catalyst for use in said catalytic reactor;
• b) forming at least one heat transferring reactor wall having an inside surface and a outside surface and defining a reactor volume;
• and
• c) forming a catalytic solid reactor bed from elementary particles of said heterogeneous catalyst sintered together to form sintered material and sintered to the inside surface of the reactor wall and substantially filling said reactor volume, there being no sintered material present on the outside surface of the reactor wall,
• said catalytic solid reactor bed being constructed such that the maximum distance in meters (X.sub.max) of any point of the catalytic solid reactor bed to a nearest heat transfer reactor wall is determined by the following formula:
• ##EQU9## in which .lambda. is the effective coefficient of heat conductivity in W/mK of the sintered catalyst and has a value between 2 and 250;
• .alpha.i is the coefficient of heat transfer in W/m.sup.2 /K on the inside surface of the heat transferring reactor wall and equals .epsilon. .alpha., where .epsilon. has a value of between 1.0 and 10 and indicates the increase in heat transfer by sintering the catalyst, and .alpha. is the coefficient of heat transfer from the reactor bed in the non-sintered state;
• .DELTA.T.sub.max, measured across a radial cross-section through the reactor bed, is the absolute value of the difference in temperature between any point in this cross-section and the nearest heat transferring reactor wall, the maximum permissible value of which ranges between 1 and 1000K;
• a is a form factor determined only by the geometrical shape of the reactor and has a value between 0.25 and 0.5, respectively;
• a' is a form factor representing the ratio between the area of the reactor cross-section and the heat exchanging circumference of said reactor cross-section multiplied by X.sub.max and has a value between 0.5 and 1;
• and
• q is the maximum reaction heat, in W/m.sup.3, generated in the reactor bed and which must be transferred through the reactor wall in a radial direction;
• 2) positioning said catalytic reactor within an outside heat exchanger;
• add
• 3) passing said feedstock through said catalytic solid reactor bed.

A product formed by the method of conducting a chemical reaction a feedstock in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst, said method comprising the steps of:

• 1) constructing a catalytic reactor by a method comprising steps of:
• a) selecting a heterogeneous catalyst for use in said catalytic reactor;
• b) forming at least one heat transferring reactor wall having an inside surface and a outside surface;
• and
• c) forming a catalytic solid reactor bed from elementary particles of said heterogeneous catalyst sintered together and to the inside surface of the reactor wall, there being no sintered catalyst present on the outside surface of the reactor wall,
• said catalytic solid reactor bed being constructed such that the maximum distance in meters (X.sub.max) of any point of the catalytic solid reactor bed to a nearest heat transfer reactor wall is determined by the following formula ##EQU11## in which .lambda. is the effective coefficient of heat conductivity in W/mK of the sintered catalyst and has a value between 2 and 250;
• .alpha.i is the coefficient of heat transfer in W/m.sup.2 /K on the inside surface of the heat transferring reactor wall and equals .epsilon. .alpha., where .epsilon. has a value of between 1.0 and 10 and indicates the increase in heat transfer by sintering the catalyst, and a is the coefficient of heat transfer from the reactor bed in the non-sintered state;
• .alpha.T.sub.max, measured across a radial cross-section through the reactor bed, is the absolute value of the difference in temperature between any point in this cross-section and the nearest heat transferring reactor wall, the maximum permissible value of which ranges between 1 and 1000K;
• a is a form factor determined only by the geometrical shape of the reactor and has a value between 0.25 and 0.5, respectively;
• a' is a form factor representing the ratio between the area of the reactor cross-section and the heat exchanging circumference of said reactor cross-section multiplied by X.sub.max and has a value between 0.5 and 1;
• and
• q is the maximum reaction heat, in W/m.sup.3, generated in the reactor bed and which must be transferred through the reactor wall in a radial direction;
• and
• 2) passing said feedstock through said catalytic solid reactor bed.