Comparison of diffusion models in the modeling of a catalytic membrane fixed bed reactor coupling dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with hydrogenation of nitrobenzene

作者：Abo Ghander Nabeel S; Logist Filip; Grace John R^*; Van Impe Jan F M; Elnashaie Said S E H; Lim C Jim

来源：Computers & Chemical Engineering, 2012, 38: 11-23.

DOI：10.1016/j.compchemeng.2011.10.007

• Membrane reactor
• Dehydrogenation
• Hydrogenation
• Homogeneous model
• Heterogeneous model
• Dusty gas model
• Fickian diffusion model

Coupling of dehydrogenation of ethylbezene with hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in a catalytic membrane reactor can lead to a significant improvement in the conversion of ethylbenzene and production of styrene. In this work, the homogeneous reactor model for a cocurrent flow configuration is compared to two heterogeneous models based on the Fickian diffusion model and the dusty gas model for both isothermal and non-isothermal pellets. It is observed that both heterogeneous models predict a significant drop in yield and conversion compared to the homogeneous model, indicating the importance of heterogeneity. This drop is generally less severe for the dusty gas model than for the Fickian diffusion model. The assumption of isothermality causes larger deviations than the assumption of Fickian diffusion. The deviations in the predictions of the homogenous model and the heterogeneous models from those of the dusty gas model for non-isothermal pellets are similar to 6% and similar to 11%, respectively.

• 出版日期2012-3-5