Particle agglomeration and inhibition method in the fluidized pyrolysis reaction of waste resin

This work investigated the pyrolysis reaction of waste resin in a fluidized bed reactor.It was found that the pyrolysis-generated ash would adhere to the surface of ceramic particles,causing particle agglomeration and defluidization.Adding kaolin could effectively inhibit the particle agglomeration during the fluidized pyrolysis reaction through physical isolation and chemical reaction.On the one hand,kaolin could form a coating layer on the surface of ceramic particles to prevent the adhesion of organic ash generated by the pyrolysis of resin.On the other hand,when a sufficient amount of kaolin(-0.2%(mass))was added,the activated kaolin could fully contact with the Na+ ions generated by the pyrolysis of resin and react to form a high-melting aluminosilicate mineral(nepheline),which could reduce the formation of low-melting-point sodium sulfate and thereby avoid the agglomeration of ceramic particles.

Combining reinforcement learning with mathematical programming:An approach for optimal design of heat exchanger networks

Heat integration is important for energy-saving in the process industry.It is linked to the persistently challenging task of optimal design of heat exchanger networks(HEN).Due to the inherent highly nonconvex nonlinear and combinatorial nature of the HEN problem,it is not easy to find solutions of high quality for large-scale problems.The reinforcement learning(RL)method,which learns strategies through ongoing exploration and exploitation,reveals advantages in such area.However,due to the complexity of the HEN design problem,the RL method for HEN should be dedicated and designed.A hybrid strategy combining RL with mathematical programming is proposed to take better advantage of both methods.An insightful state representation of the HEN structure as well as a customized reward function is introduced.A Q-learning algorithm is applied to update the HEN structure using theε-greedy strategy.Better results are obtained from three literature cases of different scales.

Scale-up and thermal stability analysis of fluidized bed reactors for ethylene polymerization

A set of hydrodynamic similarity laws is applied to the scale-up of ethylene polymerization fluidized bed reactors(FBRs)under the condensed mode operation.The thermal stability of open-loop controlled FBRs is investigated by the homotopy continuation method.And the Hopf bifurcation point is selected as an index of the thermal stability similarity.The simulation results show the similarity in state variables,operation parameters,the space-time yield(STY),and the thermal stability of FBRs with different scales.Furthermore,the thermal stability behaviors and similarity of the closed-loop controlled FBRs with different scales are analyzed.The observed similar trend of Hopf bifurcation curves reveals the similarity in the thermal stability of closed-loop controlled FBRs with different scaling ratios.In general,the results of the thermal stability similarity confirm that the hydrodynamics scaling laws proposed in the work are applicable to the scale-up of FBRs under the condensed mode operation.

Modelling and simulation of two-bed PSA process for separating H2 from methane steam reforming

Methane steam reforming is the main hydrogen production method in the industry. The product of methane steam reforming contains H2, CH4, CO and CO2 and is then purified by pressure swing adsorption(PSA) technology. In this study, a layered two-bed PSA process was designed theoretically to purify H2 from methane steam reforming off gas. The effects of adsorption pressure, adsorption time and purgeto-feed ratio(P/F ratio) on process performance were investigated to design a PSA process with more than99.95% purity and 80% recovery. Since the feed composition of the PSA process changes with the upstream process, the effect of the feed composition on the process performance was discussed as well.The result showed that the increase of CH4 concentration, which was the weakest adsorbate, would have a negative impact on product purity.

Acoustic emission detection of slag performance in coal gasifiers

This work first investigated the detection of slags,slag pool liquid level,and slag accumulation height in laboratory scale based on acoustic emission(AE)detection,and further tried the feasibility of this method in an industrial scale coal gasifier.Results show that the energy and variance of acoustic signals can realize the accurate detection of large slag(criterion:E>1.5 E0,S>1.2 S0),and the average relative error is only 0.28%.The acoustic energy in the frequency range of 20–40 k Hz is defined as the characteristic energy,which can realize the accurate detection of slag accumulation height and slag pool liquid level,and the average relative error is only 3.94%.Furthermore,AE detection also realize accurate detection of large slag in an industrial scale gasifier and the acoustic signals at slag screen can be used to realize the early warning of the slag collapse(5 h earlier).

Assessment of the TFM in predicting the onset of turbulent fluidization

Accurate prediction of the onset of turbulent fluidization still remains elusive owing to the dependence of the transition velocity on several factors including measurement methods and interpretation of results. In this work, numerical simulations using the two fluid model (TFM) are performed in an attempt to predict the regime change reported by Gopalan etal.(2016) in a small scale pseudo-2D gas-solid fluidized bed containing Geldart D particles. Various time and frequency domain analyses were applied on predicted absolute and differential pressure time series data to reveal the bed dynamics. Numerical predictions of the transition velocity, Uc are in reasonably good agreement with experimental results from the small scale challenge problem. The literature correlations completely fail to predict the transition velocity for the system considered in this work. This work thus provides a different approach for validating the CFD model against experimental measurements.

Numerical simulations and comparative analysis of two- and three-dimensional circulating fluidized bed reactors for CO2 capture

Carbon dioxide(CO2),the main gas emitted from fossil burning,is the primary contributor to global warming.Circulating fluidized bed reactor(CFBR)is proved as an energy-efficient method for post-combustion CO2 capture.The numerical simulation by computational fluid dynamics(CFD)is believed as a promising tool to study CO2 adsorption process in CFBR.Although three-dimensional(3D)simulations were proved to have better predicting performance with the experimental results,two-dimensional(2D)simulations have been widely reported for qualitative and quantitative studies on gas-solid behavior in CFBR for its higher computational efficiency recently.However,the discrepancies between 2D and 3D simulations have rarely been evaluated by detailed study.Considering that the differences between the 2D and 3D simulations will vary substantially with the changes of independent operating conditions,it is beneficial to lower computational costs to clarify the effects of dimensionality on the numerical CO2 adsorption runs under various operating conditions.In this work,the comparative analysis for CO2 adsorption in 2D and 3D simulations was conducted to enlighten the effects of dimensionality on the hydrodynamics and reaction behaviors,in which the separation rate,species distribution and hydrodynamic characteristics were comparatively studied for both model frames.With both accuracy and computational costs considered,the viable suggestions were provided in selecting appropriate model frame for the studies on optimization of operating conditions,which directly affect the capture and energy efficiencies of cyclic CO2 capture process in CFBR.

Pore plugging effects on the performance of ZSM-5 catalyst in MTP reaction using a discrete model

Coke is an important medium for connecting reaction and regeneration of the methanol to propylene process on the ZSM5 catalyst.Coke grows in the meso and macro pores,it gradually worsens the diffusion inside the catalyst particle.Furthermore,pore plugging is inevitable which causes the deactivation of ZSM5 catalyst.However,current continuum model cannot reflect the changes in pore structure with clear physical concepts.A discrete model that is verified by the carbon deposition experiments is introduced to indicate the behavior of pore plugging effects.Results show that the pore plugging has a significant effect on the performance of the catalyst.The time varying profile of effectiveness factor is obtained,indicating a regular reduction with the increase of the pore plugging effect.Spatial distributions of pore size that would significantly enhance the plugging effect are also identified.

Important mesoscale phenomena in gas phase fluidized bed ethylene polymerization

Gas phase fluidized bed processes have been widely applied to polyethylene production.In these processes,the flow,mass transfer,and reaction rate on the microscale and macroscale are strongly coupled because of the multiphase and multiscale nature of the fluidization system.Understanding mesoscale phenomena is therefore essential to the quantitative translation of the knowledge obtained from the microscale to the macroscale.This paper reviews the development of ethylene polymerization gas phase processes while focussing on studies regarding mesoscale phenomena.These include experimental characterizations,mathematical modelling and control strategies.Trends and future developments in this field are also discussed.