Corrugated grid support for vertical boiling reactor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12030028-B2
Application number	US-202117564658-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2021
Priority date	Dec 30, 2020
Publication date	Jul 9, 2024
Grant date	Jul 9, 2024

Abstract

A baffle (i.e., tube support) for use in a shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor, such as, for example, an ethylene oxide (EO) reactor, is provided that accommodates reduced tube pitch, and thus more catalyst packed tubes can be inside the reactor. The baffle, which can be referred to herein as a corrugated grid support, includes a plurality of corrugated stainless steel strips which sit into each other and form a grid pattern having tube openings. Each tube opening is configured to permit a catalyst packed tube to be inserted therein, while allowing a sufficient open area along the shell side of the tube to permit coolant to flow through the reactor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor comprising:
a plurality of elongated tubes in which an inlet end of each of the elongated tubes is affixed to an inlet tube sheet and the outlet end of each of the elongated tubes is affixed to an outlet tube sheet; and
at least one baffle positioned between the inlet tube sheet and the outlet tube sheet and configured to support each of the elongated tubes, wherein the at least one baffle comprises a plurality of corrugated stainless steel strips configured to form a grid pattern having tube openings, wherein each tube opening is spaced apart from an adjacent tube opening by a portion of one of the corrugated stainless steel strips and each tube opening permits one of the elongated tubes to pass there through, wherein the reactor is used in ethylene oxide (EO) production and each elongated tube is filled with a silver-based epoxidation catalyst.

2. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein each of the corrugated stainless steel strips is affixed to a baffle support plate.

3. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 2 , wherein the baffle support plate is cylindrical.

4. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein a pitch between each neighboring elongated tube is from about 27 mm to about 70 mm.

5. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein each tube opening has a total area from about 550 mm 2 to about 5000 mm 2 .

6. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of corrugated stainless steel strips comprise a first set of corrugated stainless steel strips oriented parallel to each other and run in a first direction, and a second set of corrugated stainless steel strips that are oriented parallel to each other and run in a second direction that differs from the first direction of the first set of corrugated stainless steel strips.

7. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 6 , wherein an angle, α, between the first and second sets of corrugated stainless steel strips is from 90° to 150°.

8. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 6 , wherein an angle, α, between the first and second sets of corrugated stainless steel strips is from 30° to 90°.

9. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 6 , wherein each corrugated stainless steel strip of the first set of corrugated stainless steel strips comprises slits located along an upper surface thereof, and wherein each corrugated stainless steel strip of the second set of corrugated stainless steel strips comprises slits located along a bottom surface thereof.

10. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 9 , wherein the slits of the second set of corrugated stainless steel strips sit in the slits of the first set of corrugated stainless strips.

11. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein each tube opening containing one of the elongated tubes further comprises an open area surrounding the elongated tube, wherein the open area is configured to permit a coolant to pass there through.

12. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 11 , wherein the open area surrounding the elongated tube has a total area from about 60 mm 2 to about 2000 mm 2 .

13. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein the at least one baffle comprises a plurality of vertically spaced apart baffles supporting an entire length of each elongated tube, wherein each baffle of the plurality of vertically spaced apart baffles comprises a plurality of the corrugated stainless steel strips configured to form the grid pattern having the tube openings.

14. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein the reactor further comprises an inlet line for introducing a feed gas comprising 1% to 40% ethylene and 3% to 12% oxygen into the reactor.

15. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 14 , wherein the reactor is configured to operate at a gas hourly space velocity of 1500 to 10,000 h −1 , a reactor inlet pressure of 1 MPa to 3 MPa, a coolant temperature of 180° C. to 315° C., an oxygen conversion level of 10-60%, and an EO production rate (work rate) of 100-350 kg EO/m 3 catalyst/hr and a change in ethylene oxide concentration, ΔEO, of from about 1.5% to about 4.5%.

16. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 1 , wherein the silver-based epoxidation catalyst comprises an alumina support, a catalytically effective amount of silver or a silver-containing compound, and a promoting amount of one or more promoters.

17. The shell-and-tube heat exchange reactor of claim 16 , wherein the one or more promoters comprises at least a rhenium promoter.

18. An ethylene oxide reactor (EO) comprising:
a plurality of elongated tubes in which an inlet end of each of the elongated tubes is affixed to an inlet tube sheet and the outlet end of each of the elongated tubes is affixed to an outlet tube sheet;
at least one baffle positioned between the inlet tube sheet and the outlet tube sheet and configured to support each of the elongated tubes, wherein the at least one baffle comprises a plurality of corrugated stainless steel strips configured to form a grid pattern having tube openings, wherein each tube opening permits one of the elongated tubes to pass there through; and
an inlet line for introducing a feed gas comprising 1% to 40% ethylene and 3% to 12% oxygen into the EO reactor, wherein the EO reactor is configured to operate at a gas hourly space velocity of 1500 to 10,000 h −1 , a reactor inlet pressure of 1 MPa to 3 MPa, a coolant temperature of 180° C. to 315° C., an oxygen conversion level of 10-60%, and an EO production rate (work rate) of 100-350 kg EO/m 3 catalyst/hr and a change in ethylene oxide concentration, ΔEO, of from about 1.5% to about 4.5%, and wherein each elongated tube is filled with a silver-based epoxidation catalyst comprising an alumina support, a catalytically effective amount of silver or a silver-containing compound, and a promoting amount of one or more promoters.

Assignees

• Scient Design Co

Inventors

• Ganjvar Mohammad
• Ni Jiacheng

Classifications

• F28D2021/0022

  for chemical reactors · CPC title

• B01J19/006

  Baffles · CPC title

• B01J2219/00081

  Tubes · CPC title

• B01J2219/00763

  Baffles · CPC title

• F28D7/10

  the conduits being arranged one within the other, e.g. concentrically {(multiple wall tubes for leak detection F28F1/003)} · CPC title