SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF A FIXED-BED REACTOR OPERATING IN COKING REGENERATION CYCLES

The optimization of the operation of a fixed bed catalytic reactor operating in deactivation-regeneration cycles for the dehydrogenation of butene into butadiene has been carried out. Unlike previous optimizations, in this work the influence of the regeneration stage has been taken into account by means of a detailed model which predicts the transient temperature profiles developed in the process. Also, maximum temperature restrictions during the regeneration stage were considered in the optimization scheme. The optimum values of the feed composition, duration of the production stage, and residual coke level at the end of a coking-regeneration cycle have been obtained. The results of the optimization show that the different regeneration parameters (such as the maximum temperature allowable, the oxygen concentration, and the extent of the regeneration), strongly influence the global process optimum.