REACTOR FOR PERFORMING EQUILIBRIUM-REDUCED REACTIONS

Abstract

A reactor for performing equilibrium-reduced reactions, includes a tubular reactor housing in which a first zone is arranged, through which a liquid absorbent flows, and which extends in the longitudinal direction of the tube. Aa second zone is arranged for receiving a catalyst material and also extends in the longitudinal direction of the tube. The first zone and the second zone are separated by a gas-permeable separation zone. The separation zone has a mechanically self-supporting structure and the aspect ratio of the tubular reactor housing along a reaction zone is greater than 6.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A reactor for implementation of equilibrium-limited reactions, comprising: a reactor housing in tubular configuration, comprising a first zone extending in longitudinal tube direction that serves for flow of a liquid absorbent and a second zone likewise extending in longitudinal tube direction for accommodation of a catalyst material, wherein the first zone and the second zone are separated by a gas-permeable separation zone, wherein the separation zone has a mechanically self-supporting structure provided with a hydrophobic layer, wherein the aspect ratio of the tubular reactor housing along a reaction zone is greater than 6, and wherein the first zone contains a porous structure.

16. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first zone is disposed at an inner wall of the tubular reactor housing.

17. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first zone is disposed concentrically around the inner wall of the tubular reactor housing.

18. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first zone concentrically surrounds the second zone, separated by the separation zone.

19. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first zone and the second zone extend along the entire reaction zone of the tubular reactor housing in longitudinal tube direction, separated by the separation zone.

20. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the tubular reactor housing, positioned ready for operation, has an angle to the vertical of between 10° and 90°.

21. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the porous structure in the first zone at least partly has a hydrophilic surface.

22. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein a porosity of the self-supporting structure is higher than a porosity of the porous structure of the first zone.

23. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the separation zone comprises at least one hydrophobic layer.

24. The reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein the reactor has an absorbent inlet and an absorbent outlet for continuous passage of the absorbent through the first zone, and in that the second zone has a reactant gas inlet.

25. A reactor bundle, comprising: at least two reactors as claimed in claim 15, wherein the reactors are disposed collectively in a cooling liquid vessel.

26. A method of operating a reactor as claimed in claim 15, comprising: continuously introducing a liquid absorbent into a first zone having porous structure and discharging the liquid absorbent again at one end of the tubular reactor housing, and introducing the gaseous reactants into the second zone and wherein the gaseous reactants are at least partly reacted to give at least one product at a surface of the catalyst material present therein, and wherein the product then arrives in the first zone through the separation zone provided with a hydrophobic layer and is absorbed by the liquid absorbent and discharged from the reactor therewith.

27. A power plant system, comprising: a power generation unit, and a reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein electrical energy generated by the power generator is utilized for operation of the reactor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Further configurations of the invention and further features are elucidated in detail by the following figures. The figures show:

[0026] FIG. 1 a schematic diagram and detail from a reactor having a tubular housing and

[0027] FIG. 2 a reactor bundle composed of a multitude of reactors according to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

[0028] FIG. 1 shows a reactor 2 comprising a tubular reactor housing 4. The tubular reactor housing 4 accommodates a first zone 8 at an inner wall 20 of the reactor housing 4, which serves for passage of an absorbent (AM) 6. This first zone 8 advantageously has a porous structure 18 in order that the absorbent 6 comes into contact with a maximum surface area and a maximum amount of absorbent with a large surface area can be guided through the first zone 8. The reactor 2 here is upright, such that the absorbent 6 advantageously flows through the first zone 8 with the aid of gravity. The porous structure 18 increases the surface area and hence the absorption capacity of the absorbent, but it would also be favorable in principle to allow the absorbent 6 to flow gradually along the inner wall 20 of the reactor housing 4. The absorbent 6 is fed into the first zone 8 in the upper region of the reactor, which is not shown in technical detail in FIG. 1.

[0029] A second zone 12 concentrically surrounded by the first zone 8 is in the center of the reactor housing 4, with essentially a catalyst material 14 disposed in the second zone 12. There is a multitude of favorable options for configuration of the catalyst material; it is especially a bed, but it is also possible to provide a porous support material having a high surface area on which catalyst material has been applied in thin layers, similarly to an exhaust gas catalytic converter from automotive technology. A less expensive option, however, is a bed of a catalyst material, the catalyst used for methanol production being, for example, a mixture of copper, aluminum oxide and zinc oxide. The grain size and grain form of the bed material are matched here to the process technology.

[0030] It has been found that the absorbent 6 and the catalyst material 14 should have a minimum degree of contact, since the mode of action of the catalyst material 14 is otherwise restricted. For this reason, a separation zone 16 is disposed between the second zone 12 and the first zone 8, and this serves especially to prevent precisely this contact between absorbent 6 and catalyst material 14. This means that the separation zone 16 is determined especially by its function; for fulfillment of this function, it may contain multiple constituents with multiple different modes of action. The separation zone 16 here may contain, for example, a weave (not shown here), for example made of metal, such as stainless steel, or of carbon or other mineral fibers, in which the catalyst material 14 is retained. This describes one of the essential properties of the separation zone 16, that it comprises a mechanically self-supporting structure 26. The self-supporting structure 26 is thus fulfilled, for example, in the form of a thermally stable and chemically inert weave. However, it may also be configured in the form of a porous ceramic pot. What is important here is the physical and chemical separation between the absorbent 6 and the catalyst material 14. In addition, for example, spacers (not shown here explicitly) may be disposed on the inner wall 20 of the reactor housing 4, which, according to this definition, also form part of the separation zone 16, and keep the self-supporting structure 26, configured, for example, in the form of a weave, away from the first zone 8.

[0031] In the second zone 12, a gaseous reactant 54, comprising carbon dioxide and hydrogen particularly in the case of methanol production, is now introduced into the second zone 12 of the reactor 2. The reactor mentioned is a working example; alternative reactant gases for implementation of equilibrium-limited reactions are likewise appropriate here. The carbon dioxide and hydrogen react at the surface of the catalyst material 14 to give methanol, which is gaseous under the prevailing process conditions, for example 50 bar and 250 degrees Celsius. The methanol product which is gaseous (under the process conditions) diffuses through the self-supporting structure 26 into the first zone 8 and is absorbed by the absorbent 6. The absorbent 6 flowing continuously through the first zone 8 is discharged again from the tubular reactor, with the laden absorbent now given the reference numeral 6′. The laden absorbent 6′ is unloaded in an apparatus (not shown), for example by lowering the pressure, and advantageously fed back to the reaction process. The second zone 12 is advantageously closed to the reactant gas at the end of the reactor 2, i.e. at the lower end at which the laden absorbent 6′ is also discharged. This is also called a dead-end design, the effect of which is that the reactant gas introduced is forced to react completely to give the product, but further reactants 54 are introduced continuously at a reactant gas inlet 34 according to the consumption of the reactants 54. It would be technically possible, but economically disadvantageous, for reactant gases to flow through the second zone 12, which is why the dead-end design is advantageously chosen. Merely a valve 33 is provided in order to lead off what is called a purge gas from the second zone. The purge gas comprises unwanted gases, especially inert gases such as nitrogen that occur as waste products during the reaction. In this case, during the reaction, the valve 33 is opened at regular intervals.

[0032] With regard to the reactor 2 or the reactor housing 4, there should also be a definition of the longitudinal pipe direction 10 along the arrow 10 that characterizes it. In this longitudinal pipe direction 10, there is also a reaction zone 28 virtually over the entire length of the reactor housing 22. There is advantageously extension with respect to the reaction zone 28 only in the upper and lower region for discharge or supply of reactant gas 54 or input and output of the absorbent 6 in the reactor housing. This means that reaction takes place virtually over the entire length of the reactor 2, which means particularly good exploitation of space combined with inexpensive industrial implementation.

[0033] FIG. 2 shows a reactor bundle 38, wherein a multitude of reactors 2 is disposed in a cooling liquid vessel 40 in which there is likewise a cooling liquid 42. Also provided are reactant gas feeds 48 and absorbent feed 50, via which the individual reactors 2 or reactor housing 4 are respectively supplied with reactants 54 and absorbent 6. For this purpose, the reactors 2 have absorbent inlet devices 30, via which the absorbent 6 is guided into the first zone 8 of the reactor 2. In addition, the reactors have an absorbent outlet 32 in which the laden absorbent 6′ is discharged and then a product 56 is led off (not shown in detail here). Also provided is an inlet 44 for the coolant 42, wherein heat which is illustrated schematically by reference numeral 58 both in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 2 and which occurs in the reaction in reactor 2 is released to the coolant 42. The coolant 42 evaporates here and is discharged via the coolant outlet 46. This is an isothermal process regime, wherein the temperature in the reactors is kept constant by the balancing by coolant 42. The water vapor formed here is withdrawn and new coolant 42 is supplied, which contributes to the constant temperature regime.

[0034] In addition, it is appropriate when a reactor 2 or a reactor bundle 38 is combined with a power generation unit to form a power plant system. On account of the fluctuation in power supply in power grids, attributable especially to the different provision of renewable electrical energies, the cost of power changes within very short time intervals, such that it may not be possible to break even economically when feeding-in electrical energy using different power plants. In this connection, it may be appropriate for all power plant types, but conventional fossil power plants and renewable power plants, such as solar power plants or wind power plants, to cease feeding the energy generated into the power grid and instead to utilize the electrical energy generated for conversion of product gases to a chemical material of value, such as the ethanol described. As the case may be, depending on the respective cost of power and the product price to be achieved, this may mean an economic advantage. In the case of fossil power plants, it is simultaneously also possible to reduce CO2 emissions or improve the CO2 balance.

[0035] For fossil power plants too, it may be appropriate to utilize this combination between the power generation unit, especially a power generator having the described reactor 2 or the reactor bundle 38. The effect of this may be that the power plant unit, for example a gas power plant or a coal power plant, may be operated in a constant output spectrum, which is beneficial to the economic viability of the power plant. The energy generation by the power plant need not be run down when the cost of power is low; instead, the energy can be introduced, for example, into the chemical reaction described or into the reactor 2 or into the reactor bundle 38. Furthermore, especially when the technology described is applied to fossil power plants, it is appropriate to branch off carbon dioxide, which is inevitably formed in the combustion of fossil fuels, from the offgases from the power plant and to feed it into the process regime for production of gases of value, as described, as carbon dioxide reactant gas in the methanol synthesis.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0036] 2 reactor [0037] 4 reactor housing [0038] 6 absorbent (AM) [0039] 8 first zone [0040] 10 longitudinal pipe direction [0041] 12 second zone [0042] 14 catalyst material [0043] 16 separation zone [0044] 18 porous structure [0045] 20 inner reactor housing wall [0046] 22 length of reactor housing [0047] 24 width of reactor housing [0048] 26 mechanically self-supporting structure [0049] 28 reaction zone [0050] 30 absorbent inlet [0051] 32 absorbent outlet [0052] 33 purge gas valve [0053] 34 reactant gas inlet [0054] 36 valve [0055] 38 reactor bundle [0056] 40 cooling fluid vessel [0057] 42 cooling fluid [0058] 44 cooling fluid inlet [0059] 46 cooling fluid outlet [0060] 48 reactant gas collection conduit [0061] 50 absorbent collection conduit [0062] 52 absorbent collection conduit outlet [0063] 54 reactants [0064] 56 product [0065] 58 heat