Modeling the thermal cracking of ethane and propane in a non-isothermal vertical pneumatic transport reactor

Abstract

A model has been formulated for noncatalytic thermal cracking of ethane and propane in a non-isothermal, adiabatic, vertical, pneumatic transport reactor. This model takes into consideration hydrodynamic properties of the gas-solid mixture, gas-particle heat transfer, and a kinetic scheme involving 81 radical reactions among 11 molecules and 11 radicals. Simulations of ethane cracking at a fixed conversion show that the particle diameter and solid to hydrocarbon ratio have the greatest effect on reactor performance; an optimum particle diameter of 50 μm was found