A method for removing contaminants from an process stream that includes the use of reticulated material to filter the process stream. The reticulated material also facilitate process stream flow distribution in process units. The reticulated material can be packed with a void space between a substantial number of the reticulated material that can be varied to enhance filtration and flow distribution. The method of filtering also provides a method of removing contaminants leaving process equipment. The methods can be used on a variety of process streams and process equipment. The reticulated material can include ceramics, metallic materials, and chemical vapor deposition elements. The reticulated material can be of various shapes and sizes, and can also be catalytically active.

The present disclosure relates to a single shell open interstage reactor (SSOI). The SSOI comprises a first reaction stage, an interstage heat exchanger, an open interstage region, and a second reaction stage. The SSOI may be configured for upflow or downflow operation. Further, the open interstage region of the SSOI may comprise a supplemental oxidant feed. When the open interstage region comprises a supplemental oxidant feed, the SSOI may further comprise a supplemental oxidant mixing assembly. Processes for producing acrylic acid through the oxidation of propylene are also disclosed.

The invention relates to a catalyst filling, comprising a first layer of a planar catalyst material and a second layer of a planar catalyst material lying over said first layer, wherein the catalyst material of the first layer comprises at least two plates, which butt against each other to form an abutment edge in each case, wherein the catalyst material of the second layer comprises at least two plates, which butt against each other to form an abutment edge in each case, and wherein the plates of the second layer are designed and/or arranged relative to the plates of the first layer in such a way that the abutment edge or abutment edges of the second layer are not aligned with the abutment edge or abutment edges of the first layer.

A catalyst carrier may have a cross-sectional shape that may include a plurality of surface channels having a first channel width and a second channel width, where the first channel width may be closer to a periphery of the cross-sectional shape than the second channel width and the first channel width may be less than the second channel width. The cross-sectional shape may further include a plurality of surface features where at least one surface feature is located between at least one pair of surface channels. The cross-sectional shape may further include a ratio L.sub.OC/L.sub.SCP of at least about 1.7, where L.sub.OC is a length of a total contour of the cross-sectional shape and L.sub.SCP is a length of an outer simple convex perimeter of the cross-sectional shape.

Catalyst gauze (1) for the reduction of the amount of N.sub.2O in an ammonia oxidation process, containing a first layer (2) of woven or knitted first wire material (4), whereby said first wire material (4) is made from Pd or a Pd-rich alloy, whereby said first layer (2) contains a reinforcement in the form of a second wire material (5) which is woven or knitted among the first wire material (4) and which has a different composition than the first wire material (5).

A packing member for use in a packed bed, preferably a support for use as a catalyst support in a packed bed reactor. The packing member includes ceramic material and has a geometric surface area per volume of ?0.7 cm.sup.2/cm.sup.3 and a side crush strength of ?250 kgf; or a geometric surface area per volume of ?1.5 cm.sup.2/cm.sup.3 and a side crush strength of ?150 kgf; or a geometric surface area per volume of ?3 cm.sup.2/cm.sup.3 and a side crush strength of ?60 kgf. The packing member optionally has a porosity of at least 6%, such as at least 15% or at least 20%.

The present invention also relates to a packing structure obtained by assembling packing elements having a spiral helix shape.

The present invention also relates to the use of a structured packing composed of packing structure for an operation for bringing a gas into contact with a catalyst, and a process for manufacturing such a structured packing.

A method for facilitating the distribution of the flow of one or more streams within a bed vessel is provided. Disposed within the bed vessel are internal materials and structures including multiple operating zones. One type of operating zone can be a processing zone composed of one or more beds of solid processing material. Another type of operating zone can be a treating zone. Treating zones can facilitate the distribution of the one or more streams fed to processing zones. The distribution can facilitate contact between the feed streams and the processing materials contained in the processing zones.

An apparatus for carrying out endothermic reactions including a plurality of catalytic vessels, immersed in a combustion chamber having a contiguous overlaid convection chamber enclosing a top portion of the catalytic vessels wherein heat is recovered at a lower temperature level from the flue gases from the combustion chamber. The catalytic vessels may contain internal and coaxial heat recovery tubes creating an annular space filled in with a catalytic device. Both the external heat recovery through the catalyst tube outer surface and the internal heat recovery through the inner tube surface can be maximized by an enhanced catalytic device acting also as a heat transfer promoter in the process gas region. The apparatus provides enhanced and flexible heat recovery that permits to meet the request of minimum or none export steam production in one single apparatus, avoiding the need of a pre-reforming section and/or of a convective reformer downstream.

The present invention relates to reactor tubes packed with a catalyst system employed to deliberately bias process gas flow toward the hot tube segment and away from the cold segment in order to reduce the circumferential tube temperature variation.