Chemical reactor with adiabatic catalytic beds and axial flow

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10960374-B2
Application number	US-201816762428-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2018
Priority date	Nov 21, 2017
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

Abstract

Axial reactor for exothermic or endothermic chemical reactions, comprising at least a first catalytic bed and a second catalytic bed operating in series and at least one heat exchanger between the two catalytic beds, wherein the first catalytic bed has a collector bottom having a box-like structure with flat and parallel walls, which are gas-permeable, and a plurality of parallel channels defined between the walls, wherein a first series of said channels collects the gaseous flow exiting the catalytic bed and passing through the first wall, said gaseous flow is directed towards the heat exchanger, and the flow exiting the exchanger is directed towards the second catalytic bed via a second series of said channels of the collector bottom.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A reactor for carrying out exothermic or endothermic chemical reactions, the reactor comprising:
an axial stack of catalytic beds including at least a first catalytic bed and a second catalytic bed operating in series with axial flow, the first and second catalytic beds being stacked one next to the other in an axial direction of the reactor, wherein a gaseous flow exiting the first catalytic bed is subjected to a further reaction stage in the second catalytic bed; and
at least one heat exchanger located sideways relative to the axial stack of catalytic beds, said at least one heat exchanger being arranged to cool or heat, via indirect heat exchange with a heating or cooling medium, said gaseous flow exiting the first catalytic bed before entry into the second catalytic bed;
wherein the first catalytic bed has a collector bottom having a box-like structure, including a first wall and a second wall spaced and parallel with respect to each other, and a plurality of parallel channels that are defined between said first and second walls;
wherein said first wall is exposed to the gaseous flow exiting the first catalytic bed, and the second wall communicates with a gas inlet of the second catalytic bed, and said first wall and second wall are gas-permeable at least over part of a surface thereof;
wherein said plurality of parallel channels includes first channels that are in direct communication with the first wall so as to collect the gaseous flow exiting said first catalytic bed and passing through the first wall, and second channels that are in direct communication with the second wall so as to distribute a gaseous flow in said second catalytic bed through the second wall;
wherein said at least one heat exchanger is an indirect heat exchanger with a first side traversed by the gaseous flow exiting the first catalytic bed and a second side traversed by a heat exchange fluid, said first side having an inlet communicating with the first channels of the collector bottom and an outlet communicating with the second channels thereof, so as to heat or cool the gaseous flow collected by the first channels and feed the gaseous flow, heated or cooled, to the second channels.

2. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein said collector bottom includes a core element sandwiched between said first wall and second wall, the core element having a wave configuration with crests that are joined alternately to the first wall and the second wall, defining said plurality of parallel channels between the said first and second walls.

3. The reactor of claim 2 , wherein said first wall includes a flat metal sheet, said second flat wall includes another flat metal sheet, and the core element includes an undulated or corrugated metal sheet.

4. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the first channels and the second channels of the collector bottom alternate with each other.

5. The reactor of claim 2 , wherein the core element is a load-bearing element of the collector bottom.

6. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the first wall and the second wall of the collector bottom are gas-permeable owing to holes or micro holes, or owing to a presence of slots covered by a mesh.

7. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of parallel channels of the collector bottom have an essentially triangular or trapezoidal cross-section.

8. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of parallel channels of the collector bottom extend in a longitudinal direction that lies in a plane perpendicular to an axis of the reactor.

9. The reactor of claim 8 , wherein the reactor has a vertical axis and the plurality of parallel channels are located at a same height inside the reactor.

10. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein said collector bottom has a modular structure including modules, each of the modules of the modular structure including a given number of said plurality of parallel channels, and the combined collector bottom being formed by an arrangement side-by-side of two or more of said modules.

11. The reactor of claim 10 , wherein adjacent ones of the modules of the collector bottom are fixed together by one or more flat elements that form portions of the first wall or the second wall.

12. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the collector bottom includes perforated tubes for collecting or distributing the gas inside the first and/or second channels.

13. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein said at least one heat exchanger is inside the reactor.

14. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein said at least one heat exchanger is of a tube type or of a plate type.

15. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the reactor is an axial or essentially axial flow reactor; the first catalytic bed and the second catalytic bed are vertically arranged in a column, the first bed being positioned above the second bed, so that the two beds are crossed in sequence by the axial flow, the collector bottom being arranged between the two beds.

Assignees

• Casale Sa

Inventors

• Rizzi Enrico

Classifications

• B01J8/0496

  Heating or cooling the reactor · CPC title

• B01J8/0492

  Feeding reactive fluids (for solid material, see B01J8/0015) · CPC title

• B01J2208/00884

  Means for supporting the bed of particles, e.g. grids, bars, perforated plates · CPC title

• B01J2208/00212

  Plates; Jackets; Cylinders · CPC title

• B01J8/0453 Primary

  the beds being superimposed one above the other · CPC title