Study of a multitubular fixed-bed reactor for ethylene production via ethane oxidative dehydrogenation

In the present contribution, a theoretical study of a multitubular fixed bed reactor for the ethane to ethylene oxidative dehydrogenation reaction over a highly active and selective Ni-Nb-O mixed oxide catalyst is presented. Two reactor designs are proposed and their performance is analyzed by means of a mathematical model of the catalytic bed. The results suggest that the reactor operation would be feasible, provided that high heat transfer area per unit volume and low oxygen concentrations along the tube are maintained. A two-bed multitubular reactor with intermediate air injection proved to be superior to a single-bed design. In fact, the two-bed configuration offers higher ethylene production rates, due to the increased ethylene selectivity while operation under lower oxygen partial pressures. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.