A shell-and-tube pyrolysis reactor for olefin production

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 31; no. 9; pp. 2080 - 2087
• Main Authors: Heynderickx, Geraldine J, Froment, Gilbert F, Martin, Gerard H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.09.1992
• Subjects: 01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; 010409 - Coal, Lignite, & Peat- Pyrolysis & Carbonization- (1987-); 02 PETROLEUM; 020400 - Petroleum- Processing; Applied sciences; CHEMICAL REACTIONS; CHEMICAL REACTORS; COAL TAR OILS; CONVECTION; CONVERSION; CRACKING; DECOMPOSITION; DISTILLATES; Energy; ENERGY SOURCES; ENERGY TRANSFER; Exact sciences and technology; FLUE GAS; FOSSIL FUELS; Fuel processing. Carbochemistry and petrochemistry; FUELS; GASEOUS WASTES; HEAT TRANSFER; Liquid petroleum product processing; MASS TRANSFER; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; NAPHTHA; OILS; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC POLYMERS; OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; PETROLEUM; PETROLEUM DISTILLATES; PETROLEUM FRACTIONS; POLYMERS; POLYOLEFINS; PRODUCTION; PYROLYSIS; SHELLS; TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT; TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION; THERMAL CRACKING; THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES; TUBES; WASTES; YIELDS; Pyrolysis; Chemical reactor; Unsaturated aliphatic compound; Olefin; Thermal cracking; Geometrical configuration; Petrochemistry; Modeling; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/ie00009a003

In this paper, a new thermal cracking technology using shell-and-tube type pyrolysis reactors, in which the accent is shifted from radiative to convective heat transfer, is introduced. A smooth temperature distribution can be achieved with the proposed reactor geometry. This lowers the coking rate and increases the run length of the reactor and the lifetime of the tubes. A reactor model accounting in great detail for the reactor geometry and the different heat-transfer mechanisms is combined with a rigorous kinetic model based on radical reaction mechanisms to predict the temperature distribution in the reactor, the heat transfer from flue gas to process gas, and the naphtha conversion, together with the associated product yields for the various tubes.