Industrial-scale radial flow moving bed reactors: A multiscale modeling perspective

Abstract

A multiscale method was developed to model 3D industrial-scale radial flow moving bed reactors (RFMBRs) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The simulations were validated using experimental data, demonstrating an error of less than 5%. The hydrodynamics of industrial RFMBRs were studied for four configurations in terms of the pressure drop profile, gas flow distribution, and effects of porosity and bed voidage. It was found that two π-configurations exhibited a better distribution uniformity, while the centrifugal-z showed the worst. The end effect was attributed to the non-perforated zone of the center pipe, with the non-uniformity index (NI) reduced by 70% when decreasing the non-perforated height to zero for centripetal-π configuration. Increasing the porosity of the perforated plate or decreasing the bed voidage significantly improves gas flow uniformity. Additionally, porosity optimization can greatly improve the flow uniformity, achieving a NI below 0.04 for centrifugal-z configuration and meeting the requirements for industrial reactors.