Simulation of the Selective Hydrogenation of C3-Cut in the Liquid Phase

Abstract

Abstract In this work, the selective hydrogenation of C3-cut in the liquid phase has been investigated. A realistic model has been developed to simulate the selective transformation of methylacetylene (MA) and propadiene (PD) into propylene in an industrial-scale reactor. The reaction rates have been determined for the gas phase hydrogenation process and adapted for the liquid phase by considering several changes including the catalyst activity and the concentration of reactive components. In the last part of this work, a three-phase hydrodynamic model was developed and the kinetic and hydrodynamic models were then combined in order to achieve the global reactor model. In addition, the results obtained from the model were compared to those from an industrial reactor. It was found that there is a good agreement between the simulation predictions and the output of the real industrial reactor.