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A new reactor concept for the combined production of ammonia and methyl ethyl ketone

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Abstract

In this study, simultaneous production of ammonia and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) in a multi tubular thermally coupled reactor is presented. Based on this new configuration, the released heat from the ammonia synthesis reaction as an extremely exothermic reaction in the inner tube is employed to supply the required heat for the endothermic 2-butanol dehydrogenation reaction in the outer tube. MEK and hydrogen are produced by the dehydrogenation reaction of 2-butanol and the produced hydrogen is used to supply 30.72% of the required hydrogen for the ammonia synthesis. Furthermore, in spite of the conventional ammonia synthesis and 2-butanol dehydrogenation plants, interstage coolers and furnace are not required for the proposed configuration. Therefore, operational costs, energy consumption and furnace emissions like CO, CO2 and NOx are significantly decreased. It should be also stressed that the multi-objective optimization is employed to enhance the performance of the reactor with the aid of maximizing the summation of the production rate and yield for each side of the reactor. Besides, the effect of the main process parameters variation on the reactor performance has been studied.

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Abbreviations

a i :

Activity of component i

\( {A}_c^{Exo} \) :

Cross-section area of inner tube, m2

\( {A}_c^{Endo} \) :

Cross-section area of outer tube, m2

A i :

Inside area of inner tube, m2

A o :

Outside area of inner tube, m2

\( {C}_{P_{N_2}} \),\( {C}_{P_{H_2}} \),\( {C}_{P_{NH_3}} \) :

Specific heat capacity of nitrogen, hydrogen and ammonia, kJ kmol−1 K−1

\( {C}_{P_j}^0 \) :

Heat capacity of component j in endothermic side, J kmol−1 K−1

C P :

Specific heat of the gas at constant pressure, J mol−1

\( {C}_{P_{mix}}^{Endo} \) :

Specific heat of gas mixture in endothermic side, kJ kmol−1 K−1

\( {C}_{P_{mix}}^{Exo} \) :

Specific heat of gas mixture in exothermic side, kJ kmol−1 K−1

C :

Rate constant

d p :

Particle diameter, m

D o :

Tube outside diameter, m

D i :

Tube inside diameter, m

f i :

Fugacity of component i, atm

F i :

Molar flow rate of component i in exothermic side, kmol hr.−1

F j :

Molar flow rate of component j in endothermic side, kmol hr.−1

Fi i :

Fugacity coefficient of component i

h :

Heat transfer coefficient between fluid phase and reactor wall, W m−2 K−1

ΔH Exo :

Heat of reaction in exothermic side, kJ kmol−1

ΔH Endo :

Heat of reaction in endothermic side, kJ kmol−1

K a :

Equilibrium constant of reaction

K A :

Adsorption equilibrium constant for 2-butanol

K :

Chemical equilibrium constant

K AK :

Rate constant

K w :

Thermal conductivity of reactor wall, W m−1 K−1

K f :

Fluid thermal conductivity, W m−1 K−1

L :

Reactor length, m

m :

Number of components in endothermic side

m Exo :

Mass flow rate of the feed in exothermic side, kg hr.−1

m Endo :

Mass flow rate of the feed in endothermic side, kg hr.−1

M Exo :

Mean molecular weight in the flow in exothermic side, kg kmol−1

M Endo :

Mean molecular weight in the flow in endothermic side, kg kmol−1

n :

Number of components in exothermic side

P :

Total pressure, atm

\( {P}_{A_i} \) :

Partial pressure of 2-butanol at interface, atm

\( {P}_{K_i} \) :

Partial pressure of MEK at interface, atm

\( {P}_{H_i} \) :

Partial pressure of hydrogen at interface, atm

R A :

2-butanol dehydrogenation reaction rate, lbmol ft.−2 h−1

\( {R}_{NH_3} \) :

Ammonia synthesis reaction rate, kmol m−3 h−1

R g :

Gas constant, J mol−1 K−1

r i :

Inside tube radius, m

T Exo :

Temperature of exothermic reaction side, K

T Endo :

Temperature of endothermic reaction side, K

u Exo :

Axial velocity in exothermic side, m s−1

u Endo :

Axial velocity in endothermic side, m s−1

u g :

Velocity of gas phase, m s−1

U :

Overall heat transfer coefficient, W m−2 K−1

X :

Conversion of nitrogen

y i :

Mole fraction of component i

Z :

Axial reactor coordinate, m

Exo, Endo :

Exothermic and endothermic reaction sides

i :

Numerator for component in exothermic side

j :

Numerator for component in endothermic side

μ :

Fluid viscosity, pa sec

ρ:

Density, kg m−3

φ s :

Sphericity

η :

Effectiveness factor

ν i :

Stoichiometric coefficient of component i in exothermic side

ν j :

Stoichiometric coefficient of component j in endothermic side

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), No. 424, Hafez Avenue, Tehran, 15914, Iran

    Roozbeh Ghani & Davood Iranshahi

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  1. Roozbeh Ghani
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  2. Davood Iranshahi
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Correspondence to Davood Iranshahi.

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Ghani, R., Iranshahi, D. A new reactor concept for the combined production of ammonia and methyl ethyl ketone. J Flow Chem 9, 43–57 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41981-018-00029-2

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