A continuous flow high pressure and high temperature catalytic fixed-bed vertical reactor for conducting experiments by the students and for sophisticated research work has been donated to the Chemical Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, by an ex-student of the 1971 batch, C. Ravi Prasad.
The Reactor has been fabricated and assembled in Mumbai, India, under the ‘Made in India” initiative and has already been installed in the University. Commissioning, Dry Runs, and Trials are in full swing and will be completed soon.
Design Features
- Design Pressure 200 bar
- Design Temperature 700 o C
- Reactor Volume 100 ml
- MOC SS 316 grade
- Design ASME Sec VIII Div 1
Safety Features
- Rupture Disc – One
- Safety Relief valves – Two
- Back Pressure Control Valve – One, pneumatically operated
- Mounting and Overall Dimensions – Skid Mounted System; 2.2 M x 0.6 M x 2.0 M ht
The reactor system comprises of electrically heated furnace, preheater, and line heater for gas feed; liquid feed storage vessel, high pressure plunger pump, vaporizer, and line heater for liquid feed. There are quick-opening special closures for the reactor vessel, with provision for fast catalyst loading on bed supports.
For the reactor outlet section, there are water cooled condenser, gas-liquid separator, liquid product receiver vessel (moc glass) for product liquid while for product gas, there are gas scrubber with circulating pump, wet gas meter and gas bomb for the sampling of gas.
The system is supported by a robust Instrumentation system consisting of pressure and temperature measurements at vantage points, back pressure automatic control valve, mass flow controllers (for H2 and CO2), level gauges, PID based control panel with SCADA, and a desktop computer for on-line data viewing and retrieval.
This system can be used to experiment on hydrogenation, hydrotreatment, GTL conversion, advance oxidation, selective reduction, and also check specific catalyst activity and selectivity. The results can be viewed on-line instantly. The facility will propel the students to the forefront of advanced research and will help initiate novel developments of the chemical industries in the country.
Industries can benefit, and they can contact for specific experimental assignments which can bolster their process: The Head, Chemical Engineering Dept., Jadavpur University, Kolkata. (Email: hodchemical@jadavpuruniversity.in).
