A novel dynamic radial-flow, spherical-bed reactor concept for naphtha reforming in the presence of catalyst deactivation

In this work a novel radial-flow, spherical packed bed reactor (RF-SPBR) for naphtha reforming in the presence of catalyst deactivation, has been proposed. In this reactor configuration, the space between the two concentric spheres is filled by catalyst. The reactants are flowing through the outer surface to the inner sphere. The dynamic simulation of spherical reactors has been studied in the presence of long-term catalyst deactivation. Model equations were solved by the orthogonal collocation method. Further, the performance of the spherical reactors was compared with conventional axial-flow, tubular packed bed reactors (AF-TPBR). The theoretical investigations on the effect of the important parameters, pressure and temperature, on aromatic and hydrogen production and catalyst activity have been investigated. This spherical reactor configuration solves some drawbacks of conventional naphtha reforming reactors such as pressure drop. This work shows how spherical reactor can be useful for catalytic naphtha reforming. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.