Discussion on the effect of operating pressure on bed pressure drop
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There are still some points I don’t understand in this post, so I would like to ask for your advice: In the original post, many experienced users mentioned that an increase in operating pressure leads to a rise in the pressure drop across the bed layer. One of the seniors used an analogy: increasing the operating pressure is like riding against the wind. This example is quite illustrative, but it still doesn’t fully correspond to this issue; I hope we can continue to discuss it together. For example: at an operating pressure of 1.5 bar, the pressure at the inlet to the bed is also 1.5 bar; after passing through the bed, a pressure loss of △P1 is measured. If the operating pressure is increased to 25 bar, with the inlet pressure to the bed being 25 bar as well, a pressure loss of △P2 is obtained after passing through the bed. The general opinion is △P1
An increase in pressure facilitates the progress of the hydrogenation reaction, meaning that the degree of reaction deepens. However, this is possible only if the feed rate remains constant, i.e., the space velocity stays unchanged. There will certainly be a slight increase in pressure drop, but it won’t be significant. After stable operation, the pressure difference won’t change much, provided that the operation remains steady. As you mentioned, suddenly increasing the pressure is strictly prohibited during operation, as it can damage the catalyst. The magnitude of the pressure difference depends on factors such as the space velocity and catalyst carbon deposition
The discussion was in-depth, but is it necessary to move on to the hydrogen sector? :)
Thank you for your patient reply. Actually, the idea of suddenly increasing pressure is just a metaphor. Personally, I still think that operating pressure has little impact on the bed pressure drop; that’s my view. As the operating pressure is increased, as long as the space velocity remains constant, the pressure drop across the bed will not change significantly. The changes are also due to pressure slightly affecting some properties of the fluid, but it should be very minor.
Haha, hydrogenation is just one category. There are many similar reactions in the chemical industry; what we do is basically similar to hydrogenation reactions, so it can be used as a reference.