【Major Industrial Equipment in the Chemical Industry】014-Coiled Tubular Reactor
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The past decade has been a period of rapid development in China’s chemical industry, marked by the emergence of many new processes, products, and equipment. There has also been significant progress in China’s chemical processing equipment, which has contributed to the swift advancement of the petrochemical sector. Here, we have compiled some of the achievements and breakthroughs made by Chinese equipment manufacturers in terms of larger-scale production and greater use of domestic equipment. We welcome everyone to share their insights and engage in discussions – let’s support Made in China! Give a thumbs up to chemical processing equipment! The second phase of the research project on the development of high-efficiency coiled tubular reactors, carried out jointly by Wuhan Donghai Petrochemical Heavy Equipment Co., Ltd. and the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was recently completed. This study developed a design method for coiled tubular reactors tailored to different operating principles, which increases the heat transfer capacity of such reactors by over 50% compared to fixed-bed tubular reactors, thereby significantly enhancing the production efficiency of enterprises. “Compared with conventional fixed-bed reactors, the heat transfer medium in a coiled-tube reactor is located inside the reactor tubes; and within the same volume of housing, it provides a larger heat exchange area. This allows for the rapid removal of excess reaction heat, thereby promoting the forward progression of the reaction and increasing its conversion rate. It also helps to prevent catalyst deactivation and extend the catalyst’s service life. ”Li Mingkai, technical director of Donghai Petrochemical Refitting Company, said.
The coiled tubular reactor can accommodate both radial and axial flow patterns in terms of structure, making it suitable for applications with high requirements regarding reactor pressure drop. Its catalyst can be installed and removed easily, and its heat transfer capacity is more than 50% higher than that of a tubular fixed-bed reactor. By adjusting the temperature of the medium surrounding the tube, a gradient distribution can be achieved, enabling precise control over the reaction temperature. Li Mingkai emphasized particularly: \"Based on this design method, we optimized the arrangement of the tubes in the coiled heat exchanger. Through simulation calculations, arrangements such as different layouts within the same layer and staggered layouts across different layers were adopted, resulting in a more rational distribution of the various media inside the heat exchanger and more efficient use of heat. This led to an increase in heat exchange efficiency of about 15% compared to conventional multi-flow coiled tube heat exchangers.\" ” It is understood that the coiled tubular reactor designed using this achievement has been applied in various pilot-scale units, including reactors for the synthesis of ethylene glycol and olefin-based products. Changing the reactor design allows for more stringent control of pressure drops and higher heat transfer efficiency, effectively addressing the issues of equipment size limitations and manufacturing challenges that arise during the scaling up of the system. At the same time, the coiled-tube heat exchangers designed using this method have been widely applied in low-temperature methanol washing units, natural gas extraction, purification, storage, and transportation systems, as well as in fine chemical and pharmaceutical production facilities. They have achieved significant energy-saving and consumption-reduction effects, meeting the equipment requirements associated with larger-scale unit operations as well as miniaturized, portable systems.
【Major Chemical Equipment in a Major Country】Series Summary Post https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3312079-1-1.html (Source: Huahai Chuanliu – Haichuan Chemical Forum Website)
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