ISOTHERMAL AXIAL DISPERSION REACTORS IN COAL LIQUEFACTION HYDROPROCESSING

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of reactors for hydroprocessing of liquid-solid mixtures, and to assist in the design and scale-up of large scale reactors from the information obtained from small scale experimental units. The paper describes a linear, isothermal, cocurrent upflow tubular reactor model with axial dispersion. The model is applied to coal liquefaction, assuming that the complex liquefaction kinetics can be represented by five lumped components-six first order reactions, and that the three phase (coal-solvent-gas) flow can be approximated by a two phase (slurry-gas)flow.

KEYWORDS:

• Coal liquefaction
• Axially dispersed tubular reactors Hydroprocessing of liquid-solid mixtures
• Finite difference method