Dehydrogenation of Methylbutenes to Isoprene: A Comparative Mathematical Analysis of the Dehydrogenation of Methylbutenes to Isoprene in Axial and Radial Reactors

Abstract

Using a mathematical model that describes the process of methylbutene dehydrogenation to isoprene, a comparative analysis of energy efficiency is performed for two upgrading variants: (1) a system of two serially arranged axial fixed-bed reactors and (2) an adiabatic fixed-bed reactor. A mathematical analysis is performed to determine the dependence of yield Y and selectivity S on quantity Q of thermal energy supplied by means of steam in each case. For the two-reactor system, the best performance characteristics (Y = 53.1% and S = 82.9%) are attained at Q = 9.0 MJ/kg and contact time t = 0.8 s. However, the best performance characteristics in the radial reactor (Y = 42.0% and S = 86.1%) are observed at Q = 7.8 MJ/kg and t = 0.8 s. It follows that the thermal energy required for the methylbutenes dehydrogenation reaction in the radial reactor is 13.0% lower than for the axial reactors.