Tubular reactor

Tubular reactor

1. Tubular reactor Group members : ID No. : Ahamed Al- K ursi Amir Al- B ulshi Basma Al- Kyumi Said Al- Q urri

2. Outline Introduction What is tubular reactor How does it work Applications Ammonia process Advantages & disadvantages

3. Reactor Reactor is the heart of Chemical Process. A vessel designed to contain chemical reactions is called a reactor. An industrial reactor is a complex chemical device in which heat transfer, mass transfer, diffusion and friction may occur along with chemical with the provisions of safety and controls

4. Tubular Flow Reactor A tubular flow reactor (TFR) is a tube (or pipe) through which reactants flow and are converted to product. The TFR may have a varying diameter along the flow path. In such a reactor, there is a continuous gradient (in contrast to the stepped gradient characteristic of a CSTR- inseries battery) of concentration in the direction of flow. Several tubular reactors in series or in parallel may also be used. Both horizontal and vertical orientations are common

5. Tubular Flow Reactor Chemical reactions take place in a stream of gas that carries reactants from the inlet to the outlet The catalysts are in tubes Uniform loading is ensured by using special equipment that charges the same amount of catalyst to each tube at a definite rate .

6. Applications Tubular reactors have a wide variety of applications in either gas or liquid phase systems. Common industrial uses of tubular reactors are in gasoline production, oil cracking, synthesis of ammonia from its elements, and the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide. Pictured below is a tubular reactor used in research on the oxidation of nitrogen compounds. It reaches temperatures of 800 - 1100°C.

7. Ammonia process

8. Skeleton Process

9. Kinds of Phases Present Usage Advantages Disadvantages 1. Primarily Gas Phase Large Scale 2. Fast Reactions 3. Homogeneous Reactions 4. Heterogeneous Reactions 5. Continuous Production 6. High Temperature High Conversion per Unit Volume 2. Low operating (labor) cost ) 3. Continuous Operation 4. Good heat transfer Undesired thermal gradients may exist 2. Poor temperature control 3. Shutdown and cleaning may be expensive

10. Adv. & DisAdv. Advantages Easily maintained since there are no moving parts. High conversion rate per reactor volume. Mechanically simple. Unvarying product quality. Good for studying rapid reactions. Efficient use of reactor volume. Good for large capacity processes. Low pressure drops. Tubes are easy to clean . Disadvantages Reactor temperature difficult to control. Hot spots may occur within reactor when used for exothermic reactions. Difficult to control due to temperature and composition variations.