Partial oxidation of ethane in a fluidized bed reactor

Abstract

Partial oxidation of ethane in fluidized bed is studied. A simple model based on two-phase theory of fluidization is developed for the fluidized bed. The proposed configuration of the bed is composed of immersed cooling tubes that remove the heat generated from the exothermic reaction by liquid coolant flow in these tubes. Simulation of the model for a fluidized bed with inlet feed temperature of 520 k, pressure of 20 atm. and ethane mole fraction of 0.82 resulted in ethane conversion of 18.2%, ethylene selectivity of 54.9% and acetic acid selectivity of 42%. Under similar operating conditions, reactions carried out using three consecutive fixed bed reactors resulted in ethane conversion of 16.5%, ethylene selectivity of 55.4% and acetic acid selectivity of 37.2%. Preliminary economic analysis indicated that the estimated price of catalyst for both cases offset any profitability of the process. This may require further catalyst development, changing reaction conditions and reactor design optimization in order to reduce costs.