Process intensification of selective acetylene hydrogenation reactor by bed configuration change: A case study of an ethylene plant

Abstract

In this study, based on the new kinetic model, the novel configuration of the reactor in the acetylene hydrogenation process was proposed. The mathematical model is developed to evaluate the catalyst behavior in new configuration. Results indicated that the catalyst lifetime was increased near 50% by the change in the configuration of the bed reactor. The ethylene production flow rate was increased by 11 mol s−1. The consequent arrangement of the reactor beds, lead a delay in the catalyst regeneration step, about 200 days.

Keywords

• Acetylene hydrogenation
• Tail-end reactor
• Catalyst activity
• Ethylene
• New configuration
• Modeling