3. Simulated Moving Bed Reactor
Xylene isomerization is a reaction of the type A $ B. In this case, reaction cannot occur near the extract point if high purity is required, otherwise the reverse reaction will pollute the product and purity will always be below 99%. To overcome this situation, reactors are inserted between the adsorption columns far from the extract point [9,10]. However, since the minimum concentra- tion required in the extract for this new configuration is about
70 wt%, a much simpler configuration can be employed. Keeping the catalyst and adsorbent mixed inside the columns, it may pro- duce a high enough p-xylene concentration stream to be further processed by the crystallization unit. This approach involves sim- pler operation and allows the direct contact between catalyst and adsorbent resulting in more efficient p-xylene withdraw as it is formed to overcome the thermodynamic equilibrium constraints.
One of the most employed SMB based technologies for p-xylene separation is UOP’s Parex. The studied aromatic complex uses this
technology consisting of 24 adsorbent beds with length and diam-
Minceva et al. [8]: 23.6 wt% p-xylene; 49.7 wt% m-xylene;
12.7 wt% o-xylene; 14 wt% ethylbenzene.
This work is foreseen as a modification of the current aromatic complex; that is the main reason to maintain the physical dimen- sions of the equipment. In case that the resulting flow rates are below or above the downstream units, a second train with the same characteristics could be installed to guarantee optimal oper- ation of said units. It is strongly recommended, whenever possible, to use similar units to the original ones while installing second trains in revamp and/or expansion projects in order to keep oper- ation simplicity.
3.1. Adsorption and reaction data
The normal operating conditions for the Parex process is around
180 C and 9 bar [13]. Pressure shall be high enough to maintain the operation in liquid phase and to avoid failure of associated equipment (e.g. pump cavitation) due to pressure drop in lines and columns; in other words, the influence on adsorption and reac- tion data is neglected. Temperature, on the other hand, will defi- nitely influence the reaction and adsorption data. According to Minceva et al. [9], increase in temperature leads to lower adsorp- tion capacity and faster isomerization, which means that a com- promise shall exist somewhere above normal Parex operation.
Bergeot [14] carried out adsorption and reaction experiments of xylenes at 200 C in liquid phase. The adsorbent used was low sil- ica X zeolite exchanged with barium (BaLSX); the author claimed that the adsorbent presented better selectivity compared to that of BaX, specifically on ethylbenzene. The adsorption equilibrium is described with the generalized Langmuir isotherm:
bi Ci
eter of 1.14 and 4.12 m respectively, p-diethylbenzene as desor- bent, particle diameter of 0.062 cm, and a time switch of
qi ¼ qsat 1
þ j bj Cj
ð1Þ
1.15 min [3]. The SMBR unit will keep the geometric characteristics of the Parex unit, i.e. 24 adsorbent beds, with the possibility to modify the location of inlets and outlets in order to use the appro- priate number of columns in each zone since column configuration plays an important role when dealing with different product con- centrations [11]. Moreover, p-diethylbenzene cannot be used since it isomerizes into o-diethylbenzene and m-diethylbenzene over acid catalysts; toluene, which has been used in the industry, is used as desorbent [10].
Generally, the feed to the Parex unit contains naphthenic frac- tion which are involved in the ethylbenzene isomerization in the Isomar unit. These nonaromatic compounds increase the utility consumption of the unit; however, they do not affect the xylene adsorption [12]. The feed used, as a first attempt, is that used by