Three-phase modeling and optimization of benzene alkylation in commercial catalytic reactors

The main object of this research is heterogenous modeling of benzene alkylation in three phase reactors based on the mass and energy balance equations by coupling the kinetic and equilibrium models and optimization the process conditions to enhance production capacity. In the first step, the alkylation reactors are simulated considering a three-phase model including heat and mass transfer resistances in the solid catalyst, gas and liquid phases. To prove the accuracy of developed model and adopted assumptions, the simulation results are compared with the plant data. Based on the simulation results, the benzene conversion and ethylbenzene selectivity in the alkylation reactors are 15.03 and 94.60% at the conventional condition. In the second step, considering the temperature of inlet streams to the reactors as decision variables, an optimization problem is formulated to maximize the ethylbenzene production rate as the objective function. Based on the simulation results, applying optimal condition on the system improves the ethylbenzene production by 1.33% at the same ethylene conversion compared to the conventional condition.