Multi Tubular Fixed Bed Reactor

Mechanical Design of Reactor

ENCH 4300 – Chemical Reactor Design

Assignment 1
Table of Contents
1 Mechanical Design of Multi tubular Reactor.......................................................................................1
1.1 Design Temperature and Pressure................................................................................................2
1.2 Materials of construction.............................................................................................................2
1.3 Design Stress...............................................................................................................................2
1.4 Minimum Vessel Thickness.........................................................................................................3
1.5 End Closures................................................................................................................................3
2 Stress Analysis....................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Dead Weight Stress......................................................................................................................4
2.2 Bending Stress.............................................................................................................................5
2.3 Pressure Stresses..........................................................................................................................6
2.4 Allowable Stress Intensity...........................................................................................................6
2.5 Vessel Support.............................................................................................................................6
3 Dimensional calculations:....................................................................................................................7
4 Process Design Specification Sheet.....................................................................................................8
5 Piping and Instrumentation Diagram.................................................................................................11

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 1 Mechanical Design of Multi tubular Fixed bed Reactor

1.1 Design Temperature and Pressure

The maximum pressure at column top will be 400 KPa during normal activity. The design
pressure is 440 KPa as it is 10% more than maximum pressure. The maximum working
temperature is 267 °C. Though, a design temperature of 293.7 °C is recommended to
account for the incremental rise in the feed's temperature, induced to hold the optimal
conversion rate as the catalyst deactivates over time.

1.2 Materials of construction

The materials that can be used in this system are limited due to the highly corrosive nature
of the liquid feed (pure MCA and DCA) and the permeability of hydrogen gas. In this
configuration, the temperature and pressure are kept low to moderate. For the internals and
reactor vessel, patents [1] strongly suggest lined steel glass and graphite. Tantalum, platinum, or
zirconium, pure or alloyed, or as cladding or coating on steel, are other viable choices. Steel
linings or coatings made of fluorinated polymers are also recommended. All of these materials
are ideal for temperatures ranging from 100 to 200 °C and pressures ranging from 0.2 to 1 MPa.
Lined steel glass is an expensive choice with mechanical strength issues that can be difficult to
account for in a stress study. In addition, in the event of a burn, fluorinated polymers appear to
fail, which may be due to the presence of hydrogen [2].
The most practical choice would be alloyed metals. Zirconium (Zr) is as corrosion-resistant as
tantalum at less price, equivalent to nickel-rich steel. As a result, for the vessel's internals Zr
alloy was chosen. These metals are commonly used in nuclear reactors, but they can also be used
in chemical reactions involving hot acids [3]. Thermal insulation for the operating temperature
spectrum is intermediate. Thickness of 75 mm of mineral wool was selected at random for dead
weight measurement intention and will be adjusted until the actual steel thickness is calculated.

1.3 Design Stress

For unfired pressure vessels, the ASME code must be followed. The requirements for SB-
551/SB-551M are suitable. To measure the thickness of the vessel, a design stress must be set.
The design stress for Zirconium of grade R60702 is 68.7 MPa at design temperature. According
to the technique for calculating the design stress for preliminary design, this was calculated from
the lowest value among those (Chiou et al., 2012, Compagnoni et al., 2017, Haryanto et al., 2005, Ni et
al., 2007a, Zhang et al., 2013.

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Table 1: Calculated design stress
Actual Modified
Tensile strength minimum (megapascals) 550 157.1
Tensile strength (190 °C) (megapascals) 254.4 72.7
Yield strength minimum (megapascals) 205 135.7
Yield strength (190°C) (megapascals) 103.1 68.7

1.4 Minimum Vessel Thickness

  The 0.003m was minimum vessel thickness, which was determined using the equation
below for the steel vessel's internal diameter. It   is most likely due to the low operating pressure.
For a single-welded butt joint without backing strip or radiographic inspection, a joint efficiency
E of 0.6 was considered. The reactor's contents are not deadly, but they are also dangerous. Since
the conditions are extremely acidic, the corrosion allowance was set at 4 mm.

Table 2: Zr vessel mechanical design parameters

Parameter Value
Design pressure, PD 440 (kilopascals)
Design temperature 293.7 °C
Allowance for corrosion 4mm
Diameter (internal), Di 0.24 m
Efficiency of joint, E 0.6
Design stress, S 68.7 (megapascals)

1.5 End Closures

Since the operating pressure is low but the diameter is not small enough to use a flat plate
cover, a tori spherical head was chosen for the top and bottom closures. As covers for the
manways into each catalyst bed, flat plates will be needed [4]. Openings for the mixed gas-liquid
feed, separate gas and liquid outlets, and a catalyst dump nozzle will be needed on both the upper
and lower ends. Since these holes weaken the head, welded pads or collars, or forged reinforcing
rings, must be used to provide reinforcement. Using the following equation, the thicknesses of
the top and bottom closures (t) were determined to be 5.34 mm. The crown radius, or RC, was
set at 80% of the vessel's inner diameter.

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Table 3- Tori spherical calculation
Parameter Values Units
Tori spherical 0.137542496 mm
Crown Radius 16 mm
Corrosion allowance 4 mm
WHB Thickness t 4.137542496 mm
Vessel Thickness 0.003 mm
De=Di 20 mm
Maximum Allowable 68.7 N/mm²
Stress S
Joint Efficiency E 0.6  No units

2 Stress Analysis
2.1 Dead Weight Stress
Internals are very heavy in the built reactor, which is essential for proper performance.
This adds weight to the structure, resulting in increased stress that should be factored into the
thickness calculation [5-7]. The weight of vessel was measured using a 14-mm trial thickness.
The mass of the insulation was calculated using the same equation with CW=1 since it is a layer
with no big fittings. The quench box and additional fittings for distributors and service grids
were omitted, but the vessel mass was calculated using a CW factor of 1.15. All distributors and
bed supports were weighted as trays with a 2.4 KN/m2 density. The impact of the pressure drop
was overlooked. The total height of the vessel,  was determined using the equation. Based on the
area occupied by them, some additional spacing was added above and below the first delivery
tray, where t is the thickness and DM is the mean diameter given by.

WT was 131.3 kN total weight. According to the internal diameter and thickness of the Zr shell,
the resulting dead weight stress W was 30.11 kN.m-2

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Table 4- total dead weight calculations data- please check this… according to 6.25tons/hour
of CH3Cl

Parameters Value Units

Ri-Di/2 24 mm
Ri+Di/2 264 mm
2ri 28.8 mm
Value in Square Root 6364.8 mm
Square Root of Value 79.77969667 mm
hi 64.22030333 mm
Trail thickness (ts) 14 mm
2hi 128.4406067 mm
200 mm
Lt
Hv 328.4406067 mm
0.328440607 m
Hv
Dm 0.254 m
1.15
Cw
Wv 27.0155809 N
Wv 0.027015581 kN

2.2 Bending Stress

The bending moment at the bottom of the vessel Mx and the second moment of area of the
vessel about the plane of bending Iv were 16.75271295 N m and 0.000305 m4, respectively, to
account for wind loading if the vessel is located outdoors. The bending stress b was 736.0208311
kN m-2 when a dynamic wind pressure WW of 9.8 N m-2 (for 14 km h-1, average in the selected
location) was used.

2.3 Pressure Stresses

The longitudinal stress is calculated by following equation σL which is 4247.404249
kN/m2.

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Circumferential pressure stress is calculated by following equation σh which is 8494.808499
kN/m2.

Upwind, the total longitudinal stress was 4216.558863 kN.m-2, and downwind, it was
4218.030904 kN.m-2.

2.4 Allowable Stress Intensity

The principal stresses were set to σ1 = σh and σ2 = σz,, with torsional shear stress being
ignored. Although it is normally ignored, 3 was measured as 0.1 kN m-2. The largest measured
discrepancy between pairs of these stresses was between 1 and 3, equivalent to 8494.708499
kN/m2, which is far below the material's maximum permissible stress.

Torsional shear stress and earthquake loading were not taken into account in this study. Since the
area is seismically active, it is strongly recommended to account for earthquake loading if
information on seismic constants for the selected location becomes available. It's also worth
noting that the stress analysis was performed on a single Zr shell rather than a composite shell
with insulation.

2.5 Vessel Support

The vessel is designed to be vertical, tall, and thin. In this case, a skirt support is appropriate.
With a height of 0.2 m, a trial thickness tS equal to that of the vessel was assumed. In case of
leaks, the skirt will be straight (=90°) and made of the same material as the vessel. Its diameter,
DS, will be the insulated vessel's outer diameter plus 2 cm. The 26.81111324 and 82.49705067 kPa
were tensile and compressive stresses. MS was calculated on basis of MX and with the height of
the skirt.

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The comparison of following parameters is calculated in excel file.

3 Dimensional calculations: Please revise everything

In such reactor design, dimensional calculations were made based on aforementioned known
information. No. of tubes has been calculated about 36 with the reactor length of 0.48 m. The
surface area of catalyst was calculated that is 102000 Sc with the void fraction value of 0.38.
Heat transfer area from bottom jacket, heat transfer area from side wall jacket and utility coolant
flowrate have been calculated 0.4 m2, 1.2 m2, 30 kg/s respectively. The calculated value table is
given below.

Table 5- Design parameters with calculated values [Reference]

Parameters Values Units
Number of tubes 36  
Reactor Length 0.48 m
Inner Diameter 0.24 m
Operating Temperature 540 K
Operating Temperature 267 degrees C
Surface Area of Catalyst 102000 Sc
Void Fraction 0.38  
Catalyst Particle Diameter Dp 1.5 mm
Catalyst density 1300 kg/m-3
Utility Coolant Flowrate 30 kg/s
Side Wall Jacket Type Half Pipe Coil  
Heat Transfer Area from side wall jacket 1.2 m2
Bottom Jacket Type Half Pipe Coil  
Heat Transfer Area from bottom jacket 0.4 m2
Internal Coil Type Hairpin  
Heat Transfer Area from internal coil 0.26 m2

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 4 Process Design Specification Sheet-Revise
Methyl Alcohol    
   
     
Mass Flow Rate Production 6.25 tons/year
Mass Flow Rate Production 0.646820181 kg/hr
WHB height (w/o domed ends) 0.2 m
Inner diameter 0.24 m
Thickness 0.003 m
Operating pressure 400 Kpa
Operating Pressure 400 Kpa
Operating Pressure 4 bar
Operating Pressure 0.4 N/mm2
Operating temperature 267 degrees C
Design Temperature 293.7 degrees C
Number of tubes 36  
Reactor Length 0.48 m
Inner Diameter 0.24 m
Operating Temprature 540 K
Operating Temprature 267 degrees C
Surface Area of Catalyst 102000 Sc
Void Fraction 0.38  
Cataylst Particle Diameter Dp 1.5 mm
Catalyst density 1300 kg/m-3
Ultility Coolant Flowrate 30 kg/s
Side Walll Jacket Type Half Pipe Coil  
Heat Transfer Area from side walljacket 1.2 m2
Bottom Jacket Type Half Pipe Coil  
Heat Transfer Area from bottom jacket 0.4 m2
Internal Coil Type Hairpin  
Heat Transfer Area from internal coil 0.26 m2
     
Pressure and stresses in a cylindrical vessel
     
Tori spherical    
Tori spherical 0 mm
Crown Radius 0 mm
Corrosion allowance 4 mm
WHB Thickness t 4 mm
Vessel Thickness 0.003 mm
De=Di 0 mm
Maximun Allowable Stress S 68.7 N/mm²
Joint Efficiency E 0.6  
     
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Total Dead weight    
Ri 0 mm
ri 0 mm
Di 0 mm
Ri-Di/2 0 mm
Ri+Di/2 0 mm
2ri 0 mm
Value in Square Root 0 mm
Square Root of Value 0 mm
hi 0 mm
Trail thickness ts 14 mm
2hi 0 mm
Lt 0 mm
Hv 0 mm
Hv 0 m
Dm 0.254 m
Cw 1.15  
Wv 7.309576503 N
Wv 0.007309577 kN
     
Dead-weight stress    
Total Dead weight Wt 131.3 kN
σw 2.612082823 Mpa
  2612.082823 kN.m-2
Bending stress    
Fw 310.6 N/m
Hv 0 m
0 Nm
Mx
lv 0.000305 m4
  0 N/m²
  0 kN/m²
     
Circumferential stress    
σh 0 N/mm²
σh 0 Mpa
σh 0 kN/m2
Joint Efficiency E 0.6  
Maximum allowable Stress S 68.7 N/mm2
     
Longitudinal stress    
σL 0 N/mm²
σL 0 Mpa
0 kN/m2
σL

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Downwind Stress    
-2612.082823 kN/m2
 
     
Upwind Stress    
  -2612.082823 kN/m2
Evaluation of principal stresses    
0 kN/m²
σ1=σh
σ2=σz -2612.082823 kN/m²
σ3 0.1 kN/m²
σ1-σ2 2612.082823 kN/m²
σ1-σ3 -0.1 kN/m²
σ2-σ3 -2612.182823 kN/m²
maximum allowable stress    
σ1-σ3 -0.1 kN/m²
     
The allowable stress intensity cannot be greater than the    
assumed maximum allowable stress
     
heigth of skirt 0.2 m
Mx= Ml 0 Nm
Ds 0.26 m
ts 4 mm
ts 0.004 m
σbs 0 N/m2
σbs 0 kN/m2
     
     
Wt 131.3 kN
σws 39577.64235 N/m2
σws 39.57764235 kN/m2
     
     
σs tensile -39.57764235 kN/m2
σs compressive 39.57764235 kN/m2
     
S.E Sin ø 41.22 N/mm2
  41220 kN/m2
σs tensile < S.E Sin ø 26.8111 kN/m2
41220 kN/m2
Er 98800000 kN/m2
ts/Ds 0.015384615  
  190000  

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 σs compressive < 0.125* Er*(ts/Ds)* Sin ø 82.49  kN/m2
139431.87

5 Piping and Instrumentation Diagram Revise

Figure 1: Piping and instrumentation diagram for hydrogenation reactor section

Figure 2: Piping and instrumentation diagram for whole process

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