Temperature and conversion patterns in a network of catalytic reactors for methanol synthesis with different switch strategies

A network of connected catalytic reactors with periodically switched inlet and outlet sections is numerically studied for reversible exothermic reactions. The methanol synthesis is selected as representative process example and two different switch strategies are compared with the objective of overcoming the conversion limits imposed by thermodynamic equilibrium. The first strategy, which is the most considered in literature, consists of periodically switching the feed to the second reactor of the current reactor sequence while the second strategy is implemented by periodically switching the feed to the last reactor of the current sequence. Periodic regimes corresponding to single square-like temperature waves travelling over the catalytic bed and characterized by comparable methanol conversion values are detected for both the considered strategies. These regimes exhibit, however, a significantly larger domain of existence for the second strategy. Moreover, the second strategy gives rise to other periodic regimes corresponding to spatiotemporal temperature patterns characterized by different spatial and temporal periodicity. These patterns arise in the form of temperature wave trains and ensure methanol conversion values significantly larger than those found under periodic regimes characterized by single temperature waves. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.