DYNAMIC SIMULATION OF RESIDUE HYDRODESULFURIZATION TRICKLE–BED REACTOR

Abstract

An adiabatic residue hydrodesulfurization trickle-bed reactor packed with a porous catalyst undergoing deactivation has been simulated numerically in order to examine the dynamic behavior of this specific reaction system. One dimensional pseudo-homogeneous model incorporating the effects of mass and heat dispersion is used in mathematical derivation. The parameters used in the simulation are primally based on the experimental data by Shoji Kodama and other correlations. The method of orthogonal collocation is used to obtain the solution of coupled mass and energy balance equations. The catalyst deactivation model adopted was proposed by Shoji Kodama to include the interaction of demetallization and coking reaction on a catalyst. The performance of the reactor during start-up period is examined. In the meantime, step-wise changes of feed composition, feed rate, inlet temperature on the dynamic behavior of the reactor are investigated. It is concluded that the study of the whole simulation will be helpful in operating an existing commercial residue hydrodesulfurization reactor.