Analysis and optimal design of an ethylene oxide reactor

Peschel A, Karst F, Freund H, Sundmacher K (2011)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2011

Journal

Chemical Engineering Science Elsevier

Publisher: Elsevier

Book Volume: 66

Pages Range: 6453-6469

Journal Issue: 24

DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2011.08.054

Abstract

In this work, a recently proposed multi-level reactor design methodology (Peschel et al., 2010) is extended and applied for the optimal design of an ethylene oxide reactor. In a first step, the optimal reaction route is calculated taking various process intensification concepts into account. The potential of each reaction concept can be efficiently quantified, which is the economic basis for the design of advanced reactors. Based on these results, a promising concept is further investigated and a technical reactor is designed. As an extension to the design method, reactor design criteria for external and internal heat and mass transfer limitations are directly included in the optimization approach in order to design the catalyst packing. The derived reactor concept is investigated with a detailed 2D reactor model accounting for radial concentration and temperature gradients in addition to a radial velocity profile.The example considered in this work is the production of ethylene oxide which is one of the most important bulk chemicals. Due to the high ethylene costs, the selectivity is the main factor for the economics of the process. A membrane reactor with an advanced cooling strategy is proposed as best technical reactor. With this reactor design it is possible to increase the selectivity of the ethylene epoxidation by approximately 3% compared to an optimized reference case. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Authors with CRIS profile

Hannsjörg Freund Professur für Katalytische Reaktoren und Prozesstechnik

Involved external institutions

Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik komplexer technischer Systeme / Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Peschel, A., Karst, F., Freund, H., & Sundmacher, K. (2011). Analysis and optimal design of an ethylene oxide reactor. Chemical Engineering Science, 66(24), 6453-6469. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2011.08.054

MLA:

Peschel, Andreas, et al. "Analysis and optimal design of an ethylene oxide reactor." Chemical Engineering Science 66.24 (2011): 6453-6469.

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