1 reply to this topic

[yasir]

Hi Friends,

My teacher assigns me to come with the design of Fixed catalytic bed reactor.I try my best but can not understand where to start.I did not find any guidline or problems on the design of FCBR.

I need your valueable knowledge on this topic, also tell me about good reference and books.

Thanks in advance.

[Doggert]

I have two main textbooks I've used for kinetics:

1. (Undergraduate + Graduate level): Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering by H.S. Fogler
2. (Graduate level): Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design, Froment and Bischoff

I believe #2 above mentions fixed bed catalytic reactor design in chapter 11. If you are undergraduate level, however, be forewarned that this text will likely be very difficult to plod through. It was difficult for my graduate class to get through, even with help from the professor.

I can't remember which chapter in Fogler's text covers FBR, but that would be your best bet to start.

Off the top of my head, I may be able to give some nudges in the correct direction:

You'll find that FBR design is very similar to plug flow reactor design, except that you are dealing with integration of the weight of the catalyst required rather than distance along the PFR (also, volume).

These problems can become (relatively) hideously complex depending on whether your professor is expecting you to account for dispersion + various other factors that can make this complex.

Thus - if you are undergraduate, then you are most likely going to work this similar to a PFR problem with an answer of "amount of catalyst" needed as opposed to volume.

If you are graduate, then you are more likely going to need to employ a 1, 2, or multiple parameter model to account for dispersion in one or multiple directions, particle geometry, etc. I would guess that if this were the case, however, your original cry for help would have been much more detailed.

Regardless of your situation, hopefully you've started this process early as kinetics problems in chemical engineering are notorious for requiring lengthy calculations along with logical derivations that can prove insurmountable to the "this is due in 2 hours and I haven't started" crowd.