DESIGN AND FEASIBLITY OF SINGLE STAGE ISOTHERMAL CO SHIFT REACTOR(S)

Abstract

Water gas shift reaction is a heterogeneous catalytic reaction. The reactions’ equilibrium Does not allow it to complete in one stage. For maximum conversions, a two-stage reactor system with interstage cooling is conventionally used in industry. However, huge catalyst volumes are required for achieving maximum conversion. This project aims to propose three cases in which carbon monoxide desired conversions are achieved in single stage isothermally. Reduced catalyst volumes were required if selective hydrogen separation is carried out with the help of Palladium membranes prior to the reaction or is carried out simultaneously with the reaction in membrane reactors. The proposed solutions gave realistically reduced catalyst volumes, hence, reduced the operating cost of the process. Design of high temperature shift reactors, membranes and membrane reactor was done with the aid of Polymath 6.0. The behavior of membranes and membrane reactor was modelled mathematically on Polymath 6.0. The calculated results correlated with the results of the simulation achieved using Aspen HYSYS. The economical and HAZOP analysis was also done for all the cases