Effect of flow maldistribution on conversion and selectivity in radial flow fixed‐bed reactors

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the effect of flow maldistribution on the predicted conversion and selectivity in a radial flow fixed‐bed reactor. A simple model was developed to relate gas maldistribution to the catalyst bed to the conversion with first‐ and second‐order reactions and to selectivity for first‐order reactions in series and parallel. For the cases considered, the conversion debit due to maldistribution of the gas phase was as much as 11%. The model was extended to cover adiabatic conditions for simple first‐order reactions. For an exothermic reaction, maldistributions can enhance conversion over that obtained with a uniformly distributed gas phase.