CATALYTIC OXIDATION OF BENZENE OVER CuO/?-Al2O3 CATALYST IN A PILOT SCALE REVERSE FLOW REACTOR: MODELING, SIMULATION, EXPERIMENT, AND VALIDATION

• Main Author: Judistira
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/38686
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

In PTA plant, the exhaust gas meission contains benzene even in ppm concentration. Benzene is one of the substances in VOC that are highly toxic, carcinogenic, and produced by petrochemical industry. The most effective way to treat the benzene pollutant is catalytic oxidation. In order to reach the oxidation state, the catalytic oxidation of benzene consumes high energy. To decrease the energy consumption, Reverse Flow Reactor (RFR) is proprosed. This research was aimed to build and validate the model equation of RFR in pilot scale, to find the proper switching time for the RFR that gives the best performance, and to study the autothermal capability of the RFR for catalytic oxidation of benzene using the commercial 7% CuO/?-Al2O3 catalyst. The dynamic behavior of heat propagation along the RFR was investigated with varying the switching time. Heat generation at the catalyst section was modeled using heater in the case of no reaction. Meanwhile, in case of reaction, the catalytic oxidation of benzene was applied. The equation model was governed and validated with experimental data and the variation of the switching times were 30 and 60 minutes. Simulation was carried out with FlexPDE version 6.50 using One Dimensional Model with Axial Mixing as mass balance and Basic One Dimensional Model as heat balance until the difference between the model and experimental data got closed. By using validated model, the simulations to explore the dynamic behavior of the RFR were conducted with switching times 120 and 360 minutes and with benzene concentration of 500 ppm in feed for switching time 30 minutes. The validation of the RFR at pilot scale resulted in the UA value of 1.67×10-3 J/(K·s) in the inert zone and 2.31 J/(K·s) in the catalyst zone. Higher operating temperature can be applied with faster switching time because it can minimize the heat loss in the RFR. The most appropriate switching time to operate the pilot scale RFR was 30 minutes. At this switching time, the RFR operated under sliding regime and reached the maximum operating temperature of 152oC at 11 hours. The catalytic oxidation of benzene containing 500 ppm using commercial 7% CuO/?-Al2O3 catalyst with feed temperature of 123oC, and volumetric flow rate of 2L/s can’t be operated in autothermal condition.