Modeling and Simulation of Moving Bed Reactor for Catalytic Naphtha Reforming

Abstract

A lumped kinetic model for catalytic naphtha reforming with 27 lumps is developed in order to predict aromatic compositions in more detail. The 8-carbon aromatics are subdivided into ethylbenzene and xylene, and 9-carbon aromatics are subdivided into trimethylbenzene, methylethylbenzene, and propylbenzene, respectively. The simulation of a Universal Oil Products (UOP) commercial continuous reforming unit is carried out to validate the model. The results show that perfect agreement of compositions at the exit of the fourth reactor is obtained between simulated values and reported values and the mass contents of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, trimethylbenzene, methylethylbenzene, and propylbenzene are predicted accurately. The calculated temperature at the exit of each reactor is consistent with the actual value. The composition and temperature profiles are calculated, and the two-dimensional distributions of coke content of catalyst bed are simulated.

Keywords:

• aromatics
• catalytic reforming
• kinetic model
• lumping
• moving bed