Prediction of Improved Performance of Catalytic Hydrogenation Reactor by Periodic Modulation of the Feed Rate

A mathematical model of catalytic hydrogenation in a trickle bed reactor under forced modulation of the liquid feed rate has been formulated and the predicted results have been compared with the experiments on a pilot plant catalytic hydrogenation of styrene. Computed results have shown that the principal role in improving the reaction conversion under forced modulation of the liquid feed rate is the wetted surface of the catalyst. Improved reaction conversion has been predicted and observed experimentally at low splits of the periodic liquid feed bringing the regime temporarily close to the transition regime from the trickling to the natural pulsing regime. Computed transient profiles indicate that forced modulation of liquid velocity has much greater impact on the transient concentration profiles than on the transient temperature profiles