(581e) Simulation of Three-Phase Spouted Bed Reactor for Solid Alkylation

A process simulator was developed to understand the performance of a three-phase spouted bed reactor that carried out solid alkylation reactions in presence of hydrogen and a large recycle of alkylate. The reactor has a riser and a downcomer area where liquid, solid, and gas are recirculated by the carry over effect of the bubbles. The effect of gas flowing in, and the internal dimension of the reactor on hold up, liquid residence time and backmixing were measured using a cold model. New correlations were developed and discussed in detail. The reactor was simulated using a previous simplified kinetics expression, the mass and heat transfer rate equations, and the correlation developed in the cold model. The results indicated that an increase in gas flow reduces the liquid hold up, the liquid residence time, and increase the backmixing in the riser zone. In spite of that the activity and selectivity of the alkylation reactions are increased as well as the average activity of the catalyst. The internal design-parameter of the three-phase spouted bed reactor also affects the activity and selectivity of the reaction.

Keywords solid alkylation, three phases spouted bed reactor, backmixing, hold up.