Implementation of mathematical and computer modelling to investigate the characteristics of isothermal ammonia fluidized bed catalytic reactors

The potential of a fluidized bed catalytic reactor to improve the ammonia conversion under isothermal conditions has been studied. Mathematical and computer modelling have been utilized in this investigation. The mathematical model is based on the two phase bubbling bed model. It is shown that a substantial increase in the overall ammonia conversion is possible by implementation of the fluidized bed technology. The effect of mass transfer, hydrodynamics, and thermodynamic equilibrium on the ammonia conversion are presented. The investigation reveals that the bubble phase can play an important role in enhancing the conversion by removing ammonia from the emulsion phase and resulted in a shift of the thermodynamic equilibrium. It is also shown that the freeboard has a significant effect in increasing the overall ammonia conversion. Ammonia fixed-bed reactor is used for comparison. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.