1. Group members : ID No. :
1. Ahamed Al-Kursi
2. Amir Al-Bulshi
3. Basma Al-Kyumi
4. Said Al-Qurri
2. Outline
1. Introduction
2. What is tubular reactor
3. How does it work
4. Applications
5. Ammonia process
6. Advantages & disadvantages
3. Reactor
Reactor is the heart of Chemical Process.
A vessel designed to contain chemical reactions is
called a reactor.
An industrial reactor is a complex chemical device in
which heat transfer, mass transfer, diffusion and
friction may occur along with chemical with the
provisions of safety and controls
4. Tubular Flow Reactor
A tubular flow reactor (TFR) is a tube (or pipe) through
which reactants flow and are converted to product.
The TFR may have a varying diameter along the flow path.
In such a reactor, there is a continuous gradient (in
contrast to the stepped gradient characteristic of a CSTR-
inseries battery) of concentration in the direction of flow.
Several tubular reactors in series or in parallel may also be
used. Both horizontal and vertical orientations are
common
5. Tubular Flow Reactor
Chemical reactions take place in a stream of gas
that carries reactants from the inlet to the outlet
The catalysts are in tubes Uniform loading is
ensured by using special equipment that charges the
same amount of catalyst to each tube at a definite
rate.
6. Applications
Tubular reactors have a wide variety of applications in
either gas or liquid phase systems. Common industrial
uses of tubular reactors are in gasoline production, oil
cracking, synthesis of ammonia from its elements, and
the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide.
Pictured below is a tubular reactor used in research on
the oxidation of nitrogen compounds. It reaches
temperatures of 800 - 1100°C.
9. Kinds of Phases
Present
Usage Advantages Disadvantages
1. Primarily Gas
Phase
1. Large Scale
2. Fast Reactions
3. Homogeneous
Reactions
4. Heterogeneous
Reactions
5. Continuous
Production
6. High
Temperature
1. High Conversion
per Unit Volume
2. Low operating
(labor) cost)
3. Continuous
Operation
4. Good heat
transfer
1. Undesired
thermal
gradients may
exist
2. Poor temperature
control
3. Shutdown and
cleaning may be
expensive
10. Adv. & DisAdv.
Advantages
• Easily maintained since there are
no moving parts.
• High conversion rate per reactor
volume.
• Mechanically simple.
• Unvarying product quality.
• Good for studying rapid reactions.
• Efficient use of reactor volume.
• Good for large capacity
processes.
• Low pressure drops.
• Tubes are easy to clean.
Disadvantages
• Reactor temperature difficult to
control.
• Hot spots may occur within
reactor when used for exothermic
reactions.
• Difficult to control due to
temperature and composition
variations.
