Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Impact of Operating Conditions on Catalytic Propane Dehydrogenation in a Fluidized Bed Reactor

The catalytic propane dehydrogenation (PDH) reaction was carried out in a bench-scale fluidized bed utilizing both experimental and computational methods. In order to investigate the reaction kinetics of CrO_x-based catalysts, an Eulerian numerical model was utilized in conjunction with a modified energy-minimization multiscale (EMMS) drag model. On the basis of which, the effects of the catalyst packing temperature, the propane weight hourly space velocity (WHSV), and the PDH catalyst composition on propane conversion were evaluated. The results revealed that, when the catalyst packing temperature increased from 823 to 923 K, the conversion rose by 104.93, 121.91, and 134.51%, for the inlet propane WHSVs of 1.24, 2.49, and 3.73 h^-1, respectively. With increasing the propane WHSV from 1.24 to 4.98 h^-1, the conversion dropped by 52.72, 45.62, and 39.35 %, for catalyst temperatures of 848, 873, and 923 K, respectively. The conversions with the CrO_x-based catalyst were 1.5 to 2.5 times that of the Pt-based catalyst. Multivariate correlation for propane conversion was fitted, yielding an average discrepancy of 4.38%.