A NOVEL REVERSE FLOW STRATEGY FOR ETHYLBENZENE DEHYDROGENATION IN A PACKED-BED REACTOR

摘要

A novel, packed-bed, reverse flow reactor (10) is provided for the endothermic dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene. The catalyst bed is flanked by inert end sections (28, 30) to prevent the occurence of the reverse reaction. Ethylbenzene vapor is added at one end (16, 22) of the reactor while steam is added concurrently at a downstream location (20, 24). The flow direction is periodically reversed by alternating the ethylbenzene introduction between the reactor ends and the steam introduction between axially symmetric locations away from the reactor ends. While catalyst temperatures are maximum when the steam is introduced midway between the reactor ends, splitting the steam addition multiple axially symmetric locations produces lower and more uniform temperatures that are better suited for optimum conversion, ethylbenzene selectivity and energy efficiency.