Utilizing DE optimization approach to boost hydrogen and octane number in a novel radial-flow assisted membrane naphtha reactor

CATEGORY: NAPHTHA REACTOR
Chemical Engineering Science, Volume 68, Issue 1, 22 January 2012, Pages 236–249
Utilizing DE optimization approach to boost hydrogen and octane number in a novel radial-flow assisted membrane naphtha reactor
D. Iranshahi, E. Pourazadi, K. Paymooni, M.R. Rahimpour
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Shiraz University, P.O. Box 71345, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
The operating conditions of a radial-flow tubular membrane reactor (RF-TMR) are optimized via Differential Evolution (DE) method to boost the hydrogen and aromatic yields in catalytic naphtha reforming process. The radial-flow pattern of the naphtha feed and the sweeping gas is considered in the tube and the shell sides to solve the pressure drop problem.
The cross-section area of the tubular reactor is divided into subsections and the gaps' wall between subsections are coated by the Pd–Ag membrane layer. The steady state and dynamic optimizations are carried out and twenty-nine decision variables are considered during the optimization process. The optimization results show 27 and 8.3 kmol h−1 increase in the hydrogen and aromatic yields in optimized RF-TMR compared with conventional tubular reactor (CTR).
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