Wall Temperature Modulates Transversal Spatiotemporal Pattern Selection in Shallow, Nonadiabatic Packed-Bed Reactors

Abstract

Transversal temperature pattern formation has been observed in laboratory and industrial catalytic packed-bed reactors (PBRs) used for conducting exothermic reactions. These patterns or nonuniform states can strongly affect reactor performance and pose severe safety issues. Recent studies show that symmetry-breaking bifurcations may cause transversal pattern formation in a reactor operated under nonadiabatic conditions. In this study, we show that wall temperature, which dictates the instantaneous and overall heat exchange rate, strongly influences the selection and dynamics of various target and rotating patterns exhibited in a shallow nonadiabatic PBR. We demonstrate this by linear stability analysis-guided extensive numerical simulations of a shallow reactor model assuming periodic blocking-reactivation kinetics for the catalytic reaction. Transversal spatiotemporal patterns predicted in lab-scale (∼6 cm diameter) and/or bench-scale (∼60 cm) reactors, include rotating patterns, inward/outward/multi-rin...