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Instabilities in Fixed Bed Reactors with Downwards Directed Flow for the Oligomerization of 1‐Butene
Author(s) -
Wehinger Gregor,
Paul Niklas,
Six Tanita,
Rix Armin,
Knossalla Johannes,
Franke Robert
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
chemie ingenieur technik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1522-2640
pISSN - 0009-286X
DOI - 10.1002/cite.202100165
Subject(s) - mechanics , exothermic reaction , work (physics) , flow (mathematics) , buoyancy , inertia , residence time (fluid dynamics) , materials science , thermodynamics , physics , classical mechanics , engineering , geotechnical engineering
In this work instabilities in fixed bed reactors with downwards directed flows for the oligomerization of 1‐butene were investigated. For very long residence times or very low velocities in combination with strong exothermic reactions, the buoyancy force can exceed the inertia force and the downwards directed liquid flow in the fixed bed becomes instable. These flow conditions might result in hotspots, the shift of the conversion towards unwanted by‐products or even in a runaway of the reactor. Therefore, the detailed understanding of the transition between stable and instable flow conditions in fixed bed reactors is essential for a safe and reliable operation of the reactor. Various simulation methods and correlations were applied to predict instable conditions that were observed in an experimental setup. 3D CFD simulations could be used to predict instable flow conditions in fixed bed reactors.