The disclosure pertains to a nitric acid production process and plant. The process involves supplying an oxygen gas stream and ammonia feedstock to the burner section. In embodiments, a part of the tail gas stream (4) is heated in a tail gas heating section (7) and supplied to the burner section (1).

A plant uses one or more renewable energy sources to facilitate the processing of a hydrocarbon to produce hydrogen, syngas or other products. One renewable energy source is solar energy, which may be harnessed by (a) directly heating a thermal storage medium by way of a concentrated solar thermal (CST) plant; (b) converting the solar energy using photovoltaic cells to produce electricity and using the electricity to heat the thermal storage medium, (c) a combination of both, or (d) converting the solar energy using photovoltaic cells to produce electricity and using the electricity to heat a reactor by way of resistive or inductive heating. The thermal storage medium, when used, is arranged to store enough thermal energy to enable 24-hours a day processing of the hydrocarbon. Electricity derived from PV cells may be used to enable the production of heat for processing when radiant energy from the sun is insufficient.

A catalytic reactor constructed of a thermally conductive housing defining a reaction zone having disposed therein: (a) a plurality of catalytic elements, each comprising a porous material having a catalyst supported thereon, and (b) a plurality of heat transfer elements, each comprising a porous, thermally conductive, and essentially catalytically inactive material; wherein the plurality of catalytic elements and the plurality of heat transfer elements are disposed in an alternating configuration within the reaction zone. The catalytic reactor is useful in chemical reactions where heat transfer is a rate limiting step.

Electrically heated reforming reactors and associated reforming processes are disclosed, which benefit from a number of advantages in terms of attaining and controlling the input of heat to catalytic conversion processes such as in the reforming of hydrocarbons (e.g., methane) using H.sub.2O and/or CO.sub.2 as an oxidant. The disclosed reactors provide the ability to target the input of heat to specific regions within a catalyst bed volume. This allows for the control of the temperature profile in one or more dimensions (e.g., axially and/or radially) and/or otherwise tailoring heat input for processing specific reformer feeds, achieving specific reformer products, effectively utilizing the catalyst, and/or compensating for a number of operating parameters (e.g., flow distribution). Dynamic control of the heat input may be used in response to changes in feed or product composition and/or catalyst activity.

In a process for the synthesis of a nitrile by endothermic catalyzed reaction of ammonia with a hydrocarbon using heating obtained by passing an alternating current through a metallic coil, the endothermic reaction between ammonia and the hydrocarbon takes place in a reactor with direct inductive heating in the reaction zone. The heating is extremely fast, which makes the reaction practically instantaneous.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new frameless catalytic thermal oxidation device capable of treating concentrations of harmful materials including NOx at a low temperature. Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a frameless catalytic thermal oxidation device capable of minimizing the occurrence of THC and minimizing a risk of accidents and environmental pollution which may occur in maintenance operations. According to the objects, the present invention provides a cartridge-type thermal oxidation device capable of being separated for maintenance, wherein a cartridge internal structure is configured so that the time while the material to be treated stays in a zone with the catalyst is increased, and a member capable of dropping and collecting powder generated by thermal oxidation reaction is configured.

A bi-modal radial flow reactor comprising a cylindrical outer housing surrounding at least five cylindrical, concentric zones, including at least three annulus vapor zones and at least two catalyst zones. The at least two catalyst zones comprise an outer catalyst zone and an inner catalyst zone. The at least three annulus vapor zones comprise an outer annulus vapor zone, a middle annulus vapor zone, and a central annulus vapor zone, wherein the central annulus vapor zone extends along a centerline of the bi-modal radial flow reactor. The outer catalyst zone is intercalated with the outer annulus vapor zone and the middle annulus vapor zone, and the inner catalyst zone is intercalated with the middle annulus vapor zone and the central annulus vapor zone. A removable head cover can be fixably coupled to a top of the cylindrical outer housing to seal a top of the bi-modal radial flow reactor.

The present invention relates to novel processes for recovering iron values from the bauxite residue. It comprises drying the red mud either directly or after neutralizing or after water washing. The bauxite residue was treated with iron nanoparticles of varying the size from 100-1000 nm, heating in muffle furnace or inductive furnace at the temperature 700-800° C. The invention resulted in increasing in magnetic properties of a selected species by coating of the iron particles on their surfaces. The iron oxides Fe.sub.2O.sub.3 and α-FeOOH (goethite) present in the bauxite residue was converted to Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 (magnetite) after the treatment using inductive heating. Hence, magnetic susceptibility of the particles enhances and can be separated by magnetic separator and ultimately separated from the nonmagnetic material. Furthermore, the isolated iron enriched material was used for various applications such as reduction of arsenic, chemical oxygen demand (COD) in wastewater.

Provided is a system and method for producing and purifying biodiesel. In particular, the system comprises a tandem arrangement of at a modular biodiesel reactor and a continuous flow separation and purification unit. The system can further comprise an evaporation unit that is placed between the biodiesel reactor and the continuous flow separation and purification unit.

A highly compact heat integrated fuel processor, which can be used for the production of hydrogen from a fuel source, suitable to feed a fuel cell, is described. The fuel processor assembly comprises a catalytic reforming zone (29) and a catalytic combustion zone (28), separated by a wall (27). Catalyst able to induce the reforming reactions is placed in the reforming zone and catalyst able to induce the combustion reaction is placed in the combustion zone, both in the form of coating on a suitable structured substrate, in the form of a metal monolith. Fe—Cr—Al—Y steel foils, in corrugated form so as to enhance the available area for reaction, can be used as suitable substrates. The reforming and the combustion zones can be either in rectangular shape, forming a stack with alternating combustion/reforming zones or in cylindrical shape forming annular sections with alternating combustion/reforming zones, in close contact to each other. The close placement of the combustion and reforming catalyst facilitate efficient heat transfer through the wall which separates the reforming and combustion chambers.