Enhancement of Methanol Production by Sorption-Enhanced Process in a Novel fluidized bed Configuration

In the present study, a mathematical model of the fluidized bed reactor for methanol synthesis with in-situ water adsorption is investigated, theoretically. The two-phase theory of bubbling regime is applied to model the fluidization concept. The density difference between binary adsorbent and catalyst particles separate them. The heavy catalyst particles tend to sink and the light adsorbent particles tend to rise. During the methanol synthesis process, the motivation for in situ water removal by using adsorbent particles (Zeolite 4A) is to displace the water-gas shift equilibrium to boost methanol productivity. The simulation results reveal that selective water adsorption from methanol synthesis in Sorption Enhanced Fluidized bed Reactor (SE-FMR) leads to a huge enhancement of methanol production compared to the other configurations.

Keywords:

Methanol synthesis , Sorption-Enhanced process , Fluidized bed reactor