Compact Heat Exchangers and Chemical Reactors for Process Intensification
Special Symposium - EPIC-1: European Process Intensification Conference - 1
EPIC-1: Intensified Hydrodynamics & Structured Environments (IHSE-2)
Keywords: Process Intensification, compact reactor, microreactor, reformer, hydrogen
Reactors are at the heart of a chemical process. Consequently the application of Process Intensification (PI) to the reactor can significantly benefit the process. Heat transfer in the reactor can be a dominating step for a highly exothermic or endothermic reaction. Coupling the reaction and heat transfer allows temperature profiles to be closely controlled and the reaction to be intensified, thereby improving the product quality and yield.
Chart Energy & Chemicals manufactures compact heat exchangers and chemical reactors that are used for PI. These range from microreactors up to bulk-production size units. This paper describes Chart’s reactors and includes case studies of their use in the fine chemicals, pharmaceutical and fuel processing fields. In addition, thoughts on the state of the PI market in various sectors and problems encountered whilst investigating PI are presented.
Chart’s compact brazed aluminium plate-fin heat exchangers were first used as chemical reactors as early as 1979. The potential for the use of aluminium structures for chemical reactions is discussed as these can be suitable for operation with temperatures of up to 300°C.
Over the last 20 years a shim-based diffusion bonded heat exchanger and reactor, known as ShimTec, has been developed and widely applied. ShimTec utilises a wide range of materials of construction and allows operation with high temperatures and pressures.
Catalytic reactors now form a significant proportion of Chart’s reactor market. Design features and advances in Chart’s catalytic PI reactors are described.
Intensified processes for fuel processing and hydrogen generation are areas seeing a high degree of activity. For these applications, units are manufacturing with nickel alloys and high temperature metals. Hydrofueler, a recent collaborative project between academia and industry across Europe, is presented as an example of work in this field. This project utilised intensified reformers to generate hydrogen from natural gas. The processing rate achieved was many times higher than that anticipated.
