Dynamic behavior of a counter-current fixed-bed reactor with sustained oscillations

Travelling reaction zones have proven to be energetically advantageous for weakly exothermic reactions. In this contribution, a new coupled system of catalytic fixed-bed reactors is presented, which uzilizes travelling reaction waves created by autonomous periodic oscillations. The system consists of two parallel fixed beds with inlets for gaseous reactants at opposite ends. Thermal recoupling is established by heat exchangers which connect the ends of the two beds. So far, several variants of the system with co-current and counter-current heat exchange have been studied in dynamic simulation as well as by nonlinear analysis. The investigations reveal a complex dynamic behaviour. In a far range of operation conditions, two types of autonomous oscillations are found to coexist