(392d) Ethylene Oxide Boosting in Oxygen-Assisted Membrane Reactor in Ethylene Epoxidation Process

In this study, a novel
configuration is proposed to boost the ethylene oxide production rate in ethylene
epoxidation process. Regarding this, a packed bed
reactor with Ag-csr-Al₂O₃ catalyst is studied as a one
dimensional, homogenous model under steady state condition. A variety of rate
equations is applied into the model and the optimization results of kinetic
parameters show that this kinetic 
 is the most
suitable one. The optimized kinetics' rates can predict industrial data with
the maximum errors of 5.5%. In addition, initial concentrations of reactants
decrease with the application of oxygen membrane where it can control reactants
ratio which is exceedingly explosive. Furthermore, an appropriate distribution
of oxygen along the reactor enhances the efficiency of final production so that
the ethylene oxide increases significantly to 103%. Oxygen, transferring from
air side to the reaction region, causes the remaining ethylene to react completely
and produce much more ethylene oxide. Moreover, this oxygen transmission results
in purifying air section from oxygen and reaching nitrogen mole fraction nearly
96%. Its temperature also rises dramatically from 300 K to 510 K. Furthermore,
energy saving via this novel configuration is appealing from the economical
viewpoint.