Investigation of coupling dehydrogenation and hydrogenation reactions in a fixed bed catalytic reactor with well-mixed catalyst pattern

Abstract The enhancement of ethylbenzene conversion by further displacement of the thermodynamic equilibrium via the influence of the dual-functionality of a well-mixed catalyst pattern has been investigated. A rigorous steady state mathematical model based on the dusty gas model is implemented for the simulation. The simulation results reveal that the introduction of the concept of the reaction coupling has significant effect on the displacement of the thermodynamic equilibrium and considerable enhancement of simultaneous production of styrene and cyclohexane. Almost 100% conversion of the ethylbenzene and benzene is achieved through the application of this approach. It is also found that considerable decrease in the reactor length is achieved by employing a reactor catalyst bed with different bed compositions. Effective operating regions with optimal conditions are observed. An effective reactor length criterion is used to evaluate the performance of the reactor under these optimal conditions. The effective reactor length is found to be sensitive and favored by high feed temperature and pressure. The sensitivity analysis shows that the key parameters of feed temperature, pressure, and the bed composition play an important role on the reactor performance. The results also show that almost 100% conversion of ethylbenzene and benzene at low temperature and shorter reactor length can be achieved by maintaining the reactor beds at different temperatures. This temperature switching policy may result in appreciable energy saving. Moreover, operating the reactor at low temperature protect the catalyst from the excessive temperatures which have destructive effects on the catalysts and the mechanical stability of the reactors. Also, the low temperature operation has significant contribution to the reduction of the operating cost.