Dear everyone,
I was assigned to a project to "fix" an "ill-posed" reactor meant for pyrolysis, with the dimensions much larger than necessary (i.e. the reactor volume is around 25 m3 while we only need to process around 100 kg biomass per day). The client said the reactor was given to them without being asked for capacities or dimensions. I was tasked with fixing this reactor (making a new one is not an option, but I can choose to say that the reactor is better left off as rubbish), and I can think of the following issues:
- More inert gas will be needed for purging
- More energy will need to be added to reach the desired temperatures
- The residence time for the gases in the reactor might be longer than necessary
- The reactor cannot be completely filled, as this could lead to problems with mixing/hot spots and ultimately efficiency due to heat transfer
Am I leaving something behind?
Thank you all for your responses.
In my opinion, the heating time becomes longer because of the thermal inertia, as well as the consumption of the fuel used, and logically a high cost.
In my opinion, the heating time becomes longer because of the thermal inertia, as well as the consumption of the fuel used, and logically a high cost.
One solution might be lining the reactor with a refractory, or make it thicker if already there, based on the fluidization calculations for the reactor diameter. For height, you may consider capping the exit pipe to the cyclone, and drilling and connecting a new pipe at a shorter height to the cyclone. similarly, you can cap few nozzles in the plenum as well to limit gas supply to active nozzles only. Hope it will help.
Lower conversion pr pass and higher recycle rates is reasonable way to use an oversized visbreaker
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