Maximum reaction rate converter for exothermic reactions

A system for ammonia synthesis comprising a first reactor comprising magnetite catalyst and a discharge operatively coupled to an inlet of a second reactor, wherein the second reactor comprises:

• a shell-side heat exchange passage and a reaction passage comprising a plurality of catalyst containing tubes;
• an inlet for introducing a reactant-rich stream comprising hydrogen and nitrogen at a feed temperature into the heat exchange passage to pre-heat the reactant-rich stream;
• an inlet for introducing the pre-heated stream to the reaction passage;
• a series of alternating discrete catalyst containing reaction zones and discrete reaction limited zones in the tubes to convert the hydrogen and nitrogen to ammonia to form an ammonia-enriched mixture of hydrogen, nitrogen, and ammonia;
• and
• an outlet from the second reactor for recovering an effluent from the tubes at a discharge temperature enriched in ammonia and lean in nitrogen and hydrogen,
• wherein the reactant-rich stream is discharged from the first reactor.

A converter for ammonia synthesis, comprising:

• a shell-side and a tube-side, wherein the tube-side comprises a plurality tubes, and wherein a series of alternating discrete catalyst containing reaction zones and discrete reaction limited zones are disposed within the tubes;
• an inlet for introducing a feed comprising hydrogen and nitrogen into the shell-side, wherein heat is transferred from the tube-side to the feed within the shell-side to produce a pre-heated feed;
• an inlet for introducing the pre-heated feed to the tubes;
• a flow path disposed through the tubes, wherein at least a portion of the hydrogen and nitrogen in the pre-heated feed is converted to ammonia as the pre-heated feed flows through the tubes;
• and
• an outlet for recovering an effluent comprising ammonia from the tube-side.