WO2024252937A1 - Multiple-tube type reaction container - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention achieves a multiple-tube type reaction container which has excellent cooling efficiency and facilitates replacement of a filling catalyst.　A multiple-tube type reaction container 1 according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a catalyst filling container 3 through which a reaction gas flows and which is filled with a catalyst; an inside cooling tube 5 which vertically penetrates the inside of the catalyst filling container 3, is arranged movably in the vertical direction, and cools the catalyst in the catalyst filling container 3 from the inside by having a cooling fluid passing thereinside; and an outer shell container 7 which is provided on the outer circumference of the catalyst filling container 3 and cools the catalyst filling container 3 from the outside by having a cooling fluid passing thereinside. The multiple-tube type reaction container is also characterized in that: the catalyst filling container 3 has, in the upper end surface thereof, a filling port 13 for filling a catalyst, and has, in the lower end surface thereof, a discharge port 15 for discharging the catalyst; and the inside cooling tube 5 functions as a plug for opening and closing the discharge port 15 of the catalyst filling container 3.

Description

Multi-tube reaction vessel

This relates to a reaction vessel equipped with a catalyst-filled vessel through which a reaction gas flows and which is filled with a catalyst, and in particular to a multi-tube reaction vessel in which the reaction vessel has multiple tubes.

Catalytic reactions are often exothermic, and as the reactor scale increases, there is a concern that abnormal heat generation within the catalyst bed may cause the reaction to go out of control or damage the catalyst and equipment, so a cooling mechanism is important.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which a heat transfer tube through which a refrigerant flows is provided in a catalyst packed bed, and cooling is performed from the packed bed.

In addition, the activity of the catalyst gradually decreases due to poisoning from impurities in the raw materials and adhesion of the products to the catalyst surface. For this reason, it is common for the catalyst packed in the reactor to be replaced periodically.

As a method of replacing a catalyst, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which the tip of a double pipe is cut open, a vacuum pump hose is inserted to suck out the filler, and the pipe is refilled and then welded shut.
Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses a method in which a fluid is fed into a tube filled with a catalyst to flush the filler.

JP 2003-229147 A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-328555 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-71036

Regarding the cooling mechanism, the method of Patent Document 1 has a problem in that the cooling efficiency is good in the areas close to the heat transfer tubes in the packed bed, but is poor in areas away from the heat transfer tubes, such as near the wall of the packed container.

In addition, in the method of replacing the catalyst, the vacuum pump power is used to suck out the catalyst. In addition, since the catalyst is sucked up, the catalyst may fall due to the effect of gravity, and there is a problem that it is difficult to recover all of it.
Furthermore, in the method of Patent Document 2, the container must be cut open prior to recovery of the catalyst, and the cut portion must be welded shut after filling, which is problematic in terms of labor and cost.

The method of Patent Document 3 also has the problem that it requires power to transport the fluid. Also, when pushing the filler away, depending on the shape of the container, the filler may be trapped structurally, making it impossible to recover the entire amount.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and aims to provide a multi-tube reaction vessel that has excellent cooling efficiency and allows easy replacement of the catalyst that is filled inside.

(1) A multi-tube reaction vessel according to the present invention comprises a catalyst-filled vessel through which a reaction gas flows and which is filled with a catalyst; an inner cooling pipe which penetrates vertically within the catalyst-filled vessel and is arranged to be movable in the vertical direction and through which a cooling fluid flows to cool the catalyst in the catalyst-filled vessel from the inside; and an outer shell vessel which is provided on the outer periphery of the catalyst-filled vessel and through which a cooling fluid flows to cool the catalyst-filled vessel from the outside,
the catalyst filling container has a filling port at an upper end surface for filling the catalyst and a discharge port at a lower end surface for discharging the catalyst;
The inner cooling pipe functions as a plug for opening and closing the outlet of the catalyst filling vessel.

(2) Also, in the above (1), the catalyst-filled container is cylindrical and the inner cooling pipe is arranged in the center of the catalyst-filled container.

(3) Furthermore, in the above (1) or (2), there are multiple sets of the catalyst-filled container and the inner cooling pipe, and the multiple sets are provided in one outer shell container.

In the present invention, a catalyst-filled container through which a reaction gas flows and which is filled with a catalyst is provided, an inner cooling pipe which passes vertically through the catalyst-filled container and is arranged to be movable in the vertical direction and through which a cooling fluid flows to cool the catalyst in the catalyst-filled container from the inside, and an outer shell container which is provided on the outer periphery of the catalyst-filled container and through which a cooling fluid flows to cool the catalyst-filled container from the outside,
The catalyst filling container has a filling port at its upper end surface for filling with catalyst and a discharge port at its lower end surface for discharging the catalyst, and the inner cooling pipe functions as a plug for opening and closing the discharge port of the catalyst filling container, thereby achieving the following effects.
- The catalyst packed bed can be cooled from both the inside and outside, resulting in excellent cooling efficiency.
- By moving the inner cooling pipe upward, the discharge outlet of the catalyst filling container is opened, and the catalyst can be discharged from the discharge outlet by gravity, making it easy to discharge the catalyst.In addition, since the catalyst filling container has a filling port on the upper end surface, it is also easy to refill the catalyst after discharging it, resulting in excellent catalyst replacement work efficiency.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a multi-tube reaction vessel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a method for discharging a catalyst in the multi-tube reactor shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a method for replenishing a catalyst in the multi-tube reactor shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of a catalyst-filled vessel in the multi-tube reactor shown in FIG. 1 . 5A and 5B are detailed explanatory diagrams of the catalyst-filled container shown in FIG. 4, in which FIG. 5(a-1) shows the top surface, FIG. 5(a-2) shows the state in which the lid member 17 has been removed together with the inner cooling pipe 5, and FIG. 5(b) shows the bottom surface.

As shown in FIG. 1, a multi-tube reactor 1 according to this embodiment includes a catalyst-filled vessel 3, an inner cooling tube 5, and an outer shell vessel 7.
Each component will be described in detail below.

<Catalyst filling container>
The catalyst-filled vessel 3 is a vessel through which the reaction gas flows and which is filled with a catalyst. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, the catalyst-filled vessel 3 is made of a cylindrical body, but the shape of the vessel 3 is not particularly limited as long as it is cylindrical.
A gas inlet 9 through which reaction gas enters is provided on the lower side of the catalyst filled container 3, and a gas outlet 11 through which reaction gas (which may contain liquid) is discharged is provided on the upper side of the catalyst filled container 3.

In addition, the catalyst filling container 3 has a filling port 13 at the upper end for filling the catalyst (see Figures 2 and 3), and a discharge port 15 at the lower end for discharging the catalyst, making it possible to discharge the catalyst from the discharge port 15 by gravity. Also, since the catalyst filling container 3 has the filling port 13 on its upper end surface, it is easy to refill the container after discharging the catalyst, and the catalyst replacement work is highly efficient.
The diameter of the outlet 15 is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the inner cooling pipe 5 when the inner cooling pipe 5 is a straight pipe as shown in Fig. 1. This is to enable the outlet 15 to be closed by the inner cooling pipe 5. For this reason, it is preferable to provide a seal member or the like around the outlet 15 so that the outlet 15 can be sealed by the inner cooling pipe 5.
In addition, in the case where the peripheral surface of the inner cooling pipe 5 is tapered so that the diameter decreases toward the bottom or toward the top, the diameter of the discharge port 15 may be made slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the portion of the inner cooling pipe 5 located at the discharge port 15.

<Inner cooling pipe>
The inner cooling pipe 5 passes vertically through the catalyst filled container 3 and is disposed so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a cooling fluid flows through the inside of the inner cooling pipe 5 to cool the catalyst inside the catalyst filled container 3 .
The inner cooling pipe 5 is disposed in the center of the catalyst filled vessel 3 .
As described above, the outer diameter of the inner cooling pipe 5 is approximately the same as the diameter of the exhaust port 15, so that when the inner cooling pipe 5 is inserted into the exhaust port 15, the inner cooling pipe 5 functions as a plug to close the exhaust port 15.
As described above, when the circumferential surface of the inner cooling pipe 5 is tapered such that the diameter decreases toward the bottom or toward the top (hereinafter referred to as a tapered pipe), it becomes easier to set the outer diameter of the inner cooling pipe 5 and the inner diameter of the outlet 15 than when the inner cooling pipe 5 is a straight pipe, and it becomes easier to make the inner cooling pipe 5 function as a plug that closes the outlet 15.

In the inner cooling pipe 5, a cooling fluid flows from top to bottom, counter flowing to the reaction gas flowing from bottom to top inside the catalyst filled vessel 3. Note that, as in this example, the reaction gas and the refrigerant fluid may flow counter to each other, and in some cases, the reaction gas and the refrigerant fluid may flow parallel to each other in order to preferentially cool the superheated section (gas inlet section).

A lid member 17 is attached to the top of the inner cooling pipe 5 to open and close the filling port 13 at the top of the catalyst filling container 3.

Cooling fluids include, but are not limited to, air, inert gas, water, seawater, ethylene glycol, etc.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, one inner cooling pipe 5 is arranged inside the catalyst filled container 3, but the present invention is not limited to this, and multiple inner cooling pipes 5 may be arranged inside the catalyst filled container 3. In this way, the cooling efficiency of cooling the catalyst inside the catalyst filled container 3 from the inside can be further improved.

<Outer shell container>
The outer shell vessel 7 is provided on the outer periphery of the catalyst filled vessel 3 and a cooling fluid flows inside the outer shell vessel 7 to cool the catalyst filled vessel 3 from the outside.
1, the outer shell vessel 7 of this embodiment is a cylinder having a larger diameter than the catalyst-filled vessel 3, and is provided with a cooling fluid inlet 19 on the upper side and a cooling fluid outlet 21 on the lower side. Therefore, the flow of the cooling fluid in the outer shell vessel 7 is from top to bottom, similar to the inner cooling pipe 5, and flows counter to the reaction gas.
The flow directions of the cooling fluid and the reaction gas may be parallel to each other, similar to the relationship between the reaction gas and the cooling fluid described above.

In the multi-tubular reaction vessel 1 constructed as above, the catalyst-filled vessel 3 is filled with a catalyst, and a cooling fluid flows through the inner cooling tube 5 and the outer shell vessel 7 .
When the reaction gas flows into the catalyst-filled vessel 3, reaction heat is generated by the catalytic reaction. This reaction heat is cooled from the inside by the cooling fluid flowing through the inner cooling pipe 5 and from the outside by the cooling fluid flowing through the outer shell vessel 7.

In this way, in this embodiment, the heat of the catalytic reaction is cooled from both the inside and the outside, which is very efficient. In addition, by being able to cool from both the inside and the outside, it is possible to prevent uneven catalyst temperatures and the occurrence of hot spots (a phenomenon in which a very small part of the packed bed generates abnormal heat).

In this embodiment, the inner cooling pipe 5 is disposed approximately at the center of the catalyst filled container 3, so that cooling can be performed from the inside without any bias. Similarly, the catalyst filled container 3 is disposed approximately at the center of the outer shell container 7, so that cooling can be performed from the outside without any bias.
However, the present invention is not limited to the arrangement in which the inner cooling pipe 5 is disposed at the center of the catalyst filled vessel 3, nor is it limited to the arrangement in which the catalyst filled vessel 3 is disposed at the center of the outer shell vessel 7.

In addition, in this embodiment, the catalyst filled container 3 is designed so that the catalyst introduced from the filling port 13 can be discharged from the discharge port 15 by gravity without using any power, and the inner cooling pipe 5 functions as a plug for the discharge port 15 and a cover member 17 is attached to the inner cooling pipe 5. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the catalyst can be discharged by simply pulling out the inner cooling pipe 5.
As shown in FIG. 2, the inner cooling pipe 5 does not need to be completely pulled out, but can be moved to a position where the lower end of the inner cooling pipe 5 is above the discharge port 15 to discharge the catalyst.
In addition, in the case where the inner cooling pipe 5 is the tapered pipe described above, by moving the inner cooling pipe 5 upward or downward, a gap can be generated between the discharge port 15 and the inner cooling pipe 5, making it possible to discharge the catalyst through the gap.

When filling the catalyst into the catalyst filling container 3 after discharging the catalyst, the inner cooling tube 5 is inserted and the discharge port 15 is closed, and then the catalyst is introduced through the filling port 13, as shown in FIG. 3.

To enable such an operation, the cover member 17 can be made movable up and down relative to the inner cooling pipe 5, or, if the cover member 17 is fixed to the inner cooling pipe 5, the length of the inner cooling pipe 5 can be made to have some slack so that it can be in the state shown in Figure 3.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the catalyst filled in the catalyst filling vessel 3 can be cooled from both the inside and the outside, and therefore the cooling efficiency is excellent.
In addition, by moving the inner cooling pipe 5 upward, the discharge outlet 15 of the catalyst filling container 3 is opened, and the catalyst can be discharged from the discharge outlet 15 by gravity, making it easy to discharge the catalyst and improving the efficiency of catalyst replacement work.

In the above example, one pair of catalyst filled container 3 and inner cooling pipe 5 is provided for one outer shell container 7, but the present invention is not limited to this, and multiple pairs of catalyst filled container 3 and inner cooling pipe 5 may be provided for one outer shell container 7.
In this case, for example, when using the same amount of catalyst as that shown in Figure 1, in this embodiment, the amount of catalyst filled in each catalyst filled container 3 is small, and the thickness of the catalyst in the filled state is thin, so that the cooling efficiency from the inside and outside is improved.

In addition, the above-mentioned catalyst-filled container 3 has the gas inlet 9 provided on the lower side and the gas outlet 11 provided on the upper side. However, as shown in Figures 4 and 5(b), the gas inlet 9 may be provided on the bottom surface, and as shown in Figures 4 and 5(a-1), the gas outlet 11 may be provided on the top surface.
In this case, a cutout portion 17a as shown in Fig. 5(a-2) may be provided in the cover member 17. In this case, a sector-shaped top surface portion 3a supporting the gas outlet port 11 is provided on the top surface of the catalyst-filled container 3 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5(a-1).

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 multi-tube reaction vessel 3 catalyst-filled vessel 5 inner cooling tube 7 outer vessel 9 gas inlet 11 gas outlet 13 filling port 15 outlet 17 lid member 19 cooling fluid inlet 21 cooling fluid outlet

Claims (3)

a catalyst-filled vessel through which a reaction gas flows and which is filled with a catalyst; an inner cooling pipe which passes vertically through the catalyst-filled vessel and is arranged to be movable in the vertical direction and through which a cooling fluid flows to cool the catalyst in the catalyst-filled vessel from the inside; and an outer shell vessel which is provided on the outer periphery of the catalyst-filled vessel and through which a cooling fluid flows to cool the catalyst in the catalyst-filled vessel from the outside,
the catalyst filling container has a filling port at an upper end surface for filling the catalyst and a discharge port at a lower end surface for discharging the catalyst;
The inner cooling pipe functions as a plug for opening and closing the outlet of the catalyst-filled vessel. The multi-tube reactor described in claim 1, characterized in that the catalyst-filled vessel is cylindrical and the inner cooling tube is disposed in the center of the catalyst-filled vessel. The multi-tube reactor according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it has multiple sets of the catalyst-filled vessel and the inner cooling tube, and the multiple sets are provided in one outer shell vessel.