Full-period operation optimization of the semi-regenerative reactor based on dehydrogenation reaction and deactivation kinetics

Abstract

Semi-regenerative reactors are adopted in many catalytic processes. Based on industrial data, a one-dimensional pseudo-homogeneous reactor model was established for the semi-regenerative reactor of the dehydrogenation of heavy paraffins. The validation results show high accuracy of the model prediction. The Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) algorithm was employed for the full-period operation optimization of the reactor, resulting in a 3.04% increase in the yield of mono-olefins, but the optimized operation conditions are not consistent with common combination according to the practical production experience described in the literature. Further investigations for semi-regenerative reactors with different dehydrogenation systems show that the optimized combination of operation conditions in a full period is dependent on the depth of dehydrogenation, the rate of catalyst deactivation, and the duration of the period.