Modelling and Simulation of a Fluidized Bed Membrane Reactor for Naphtha Reforming Process through Interfacing of Excel and Aspen-PLUS® Simulator

Abstract

Naphtha reforming units are of great interest for hydrogen and gasoline production in petroleum refineries. Conventional reforming technology that employs packed-bed reactors (PBR) have inherent limitations that the fluidized bed reactor (FBR) overcomes. This study was conducted to assess the improvement in the yield of aromatics and hydrogen by the application of in situ membrane separation in the FBR. In this work, a sequential modular simulation (SMS) approach was used to simulate the hydrodynamics of a fluidized-bed membrane reactor (FBMR) for catalytic reforming of naphtha in the Aspen PLUS environment. Standard ideal reactor modules available inside the Aspen PLUS environment are combined to simulate the FBR and FBMR. The hydrodynamic parameters and membrane permeation phenomena were implemented using an interfacing of Excel with the Aspen PLUS model of the FBMR. Comparison of the results from the FBMR is done with a simulated FBR. FBMR outperformed the FBR in terms of increase in aromatics in reformate stream and effective separation of hydrogen during the reaction. The proposed method can be readily adopted by process engineers for design and optimization decisions. Keywords: Naphtha catalytic reforming; Aspen PLUS; Excel interfacing; Two-phase theory of fluidization; Hydrogen production; Fluidized-bed membrane reactor; Increase in aromatic production; Pd–Ag membrane