1.

0 INTRODUCTION
1.1.0 Background
1.1.1 Chemical Reactors
Chemical reactions pertaining to the chemical, oil and gas industries and
petrochemical are performed in a unique apparatus namely reactors (Masi, 2003). These
reactors in order to function up to its performance are required to have chemicals in it.
Chemical reactors are vessels that are designed and equipped to contain various chemical
reactions. It is the site of conversion of raw materials into desired products which therefore
called as the heart of a chemical process (Nanda, 2008). The design of a chemical reactor
where bulk drugs would be synthesized on a commercial scale would depend on multiple
aspects of our chemical engineering knowledge. Since it is very vital step in the overall
design of a process, designers needs to ensure that the reaction proceeds with the highest
efficiency towards the desired output, producing the highest yield of product in the most
cost effective way. Therefore, a chemical reactor needs to be able to carry out at least three
functions: provide the necessary residence time for the reactants to complete the chemical
reaction; allow the heat exchange necessary; place the phases into intimate contact to
facilitate the reaction

There are distinct types of reactors intended to face extremely varied operating
conditions, both in terms of their nature of the chemical species involved (reactants and
products of the reaction) and also the physical conditions under which they operate in. The
reactors are designed based on features like mode of operation or types of phases present
or the geometry. They are thus called batch or continuous depending on the mode of
operation and homogeneous or heterogeneous depending upon the phases present. Besides,
they may also be classified as packed bed reactor or fluidized bed reactor. To classify a
reactor, the number of phases in the reactor itself, whether or not there are agitation systems
and the mode of operation (continuous reactor, semi-continuous or discontinuous) need to
be taken into consideration. It should also be noted that most chemical reactors are
equipped with heat exchange apparatus in the form of external jackets or internal coils with
a fluid flowing through them to act as a thermal vector to allow both heat supply or removal.
1.1.2 Packed Bed Reactors
In this experiment, packed bed reactor or tubular reactor is used. There are many
types of packed bed reactors used in numerous industries such as fixed bed reactors,
fluidized bed reactor, Carbery reactor or Berty reactor and slurry reactors. However, for
this experiment packed bed reactor in Residence Time Distribution (RTD). The reactor is
consists of mainly a vertical glass column packed with glass concentration of tracers
passing down the column. It has the option within the computer software that is connected
to the reactor whether to select the flow process in either step change input or impulse input.
In addition, the design of this reactor allows the modification of running it two operational
modes, either co-current operational mode or counter current operational mode. The
packed bed rector has its advantages as compared to other known reactor such continuous
stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and plug flow reactor (PFR), for instance it has ideal plug flow
behavior, requires low maintenance cost and reduced loss due to attrition and wear.
Furthermore, the management within a packed bed reactor are highly maintained to ensure
uniform rates and high reactant conversions. Therefore, the packed bed reactor is selected
for the oil and gas industry of the methanol production from methane gas synthesis.

1.1.3 Heterogeneous Reactions

In this experiment, heterogeneous reaction is involved. For a heterogeneous
reaction, two or more phases exist and the overriding problems in the reactor design is to
promote mass transfer between the phases. The combination of phases involved in this
experiment is Liquid-Solid Gas phase combination. The solid phase is generally a porous
catalyst where in this experiment, the catalysts are Raschig rings, where it is placed inside
the packed reactor and does not leave the reactor when the chemical reactions are involved.

1.1.4 Residence Time Distribution (RTD)

The residence-time distribution (RTD) of a reactor is a characteristic of the mixing
that occurs in the chemical reactor. There is no axial mixing in a plug-flow reactor (PFR),
and this omission is reflected in RTD which is exhibited by this class of reactors. The
CSTR (constant stirred type reactor) is thoroughly mixed and possesses a far different kind
of RTD than the plug-flow reactor. The RTD exhibited by a given reactor yields distinctive
clues to the type of mixing occurring within it and is one of the most informative
characterizations of the reactor. The RTD is determined experimentally by injection an
inert chemical, molecule, or atom, called a tracer, into the reactor at some time t = 0 and
then measuring the tracer concentration, C, in the effluent stream as a function of time. In
addition to being a nonreactive species that is easily detectable, the tracer should have
physical properties similar to those of the reacting mixture and be completely soluble in
the mixture. It is also should not adsorb on the walls or other surfaces in the reactor. The
latter requirements are needed so that the tracer’s behavior will honestly reflect that of the
material flowing through reactor.

1.1.5 Methanol
Methanol, or also known as methyl alcohol or wood alcohol is a colorless, water-
soluble liquid with mild alcoholic odor. It freezes at -97.6°C, boils at 64.6°C and a density
of 791kg/m3 at 20°C. It is polar, acid-base neutral, and generally considered non-corrosive.
It is miscible with most organic solvents and is capable of dissolving many inorganic salts.
Methanol in the oil and gas industry brings a hug significance as it can be used as a fuel or
fuel additive (neat methanol fuel, methanol blended with gasoline, methyl tert-butyl ether
(MTBE), tert-Amyl methyl ether (TAME) and methanol to gasoline). It can also be used
for the production of chemicals like formaldehyde, acetic acid, chloromethanes, methyl
methacrylate, dimethyl terephthalate, methyl amines, and glycol methyl ethers. It is also
used as a solvent for windshield, antifreeze, inhibitor to hydrate formation in natural gas
processing and as a substrate for crop growth.
1.2.0 Objectives
The applications of a packed bed reactor on the industrial scale can be found in
various industries such as textile industry, pharmaceutical industry and oil and gas industry.
Two experiments were carried out to provide substantial understanding on the process of
a packed bed reactor as it is commonly used in the oil and gas industry. Experiment 1 was
conducted in step change input and Experiment 2 in pulse input.

1.2.1 Objectives of the Experiment

The main objective of the experiment was to determine the effect of liquid and gas
feed rates on the mean residence time and degree (intensity) of liquid-phase axial
dispersion.
In order to get a better grasp about the experiment, the other objectives are also
stated as below:
i. To understand counter current operational mode where liquid is flowing
downward from the top of the column while gas stream is flowing upward from
the bottom of the column.
ii. To understand co-current operational mode where both liquid and gas streams
are flowing upward from the bottom of the column.
iii. To study the effects of step change input in co-current and counter current
operational flow.
iv. To study the effects of pulse input in co-current and counter current operational
flow.
v. To obtain Residence Time Distribution (RTD) curve.
vi. To determine the mean residence time, tm of the system.
vii. To understand the usage of a dispersion model to characterize the spreading in
the vessel.

1.2.2 Objectives of the Study

i. To understand the operation of a packed bed reactor in methanol production in the

oil and gas industries.
ii. To study the process descriptions of methanol produced in the oil and gas
industry.
iii. To understand the process flow diagram (PFD) of a methanol production plant
and to determine the ideal operational mode of a packed bed reactor in the PFD to
obtain the best conversion with high efficiency.
1.3.0 Scope of Study
The scope of study is in the oil and gas industry. The main reason why oil and gas
industry is selected as the significance of methanol bring to the industry is large. The
consumption of methanol as solvent from gas synthesis is very large in the oil and gas
industry. The costs of producing pure methanol product from gas synthesis is quite high as
the quality control requirements in the global market is very stringent. In the oil and gas
industry, methanol is used as an alternative automotive fuel. It is used as clean burning fuel
in existing vehicles. In the current world, China leads the world in using methanol as fuel,
with methanol representing 7% of China’s total transportation fuel pool. Also in Europe,
up to 3% methanol is allowed in gasoline and it can be seen as niche market blending in
several countries as well of today. In addition, with the advancement of technological
innovation and research, methanol is seen as the key vital component in the replacement
for propane in liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and also diesel fuel in transportation. Methanol
when react with ether is able to produce dimethyl ether (DME) which enables to power
more energy per gallon to transportation vehicles as compared to diesel fuel.

Furthermore, packed bed reactor is suitable to be for the production of methanol

from the gas synthesis process in the oil and gas industry. This is due to the high conversion
capabilities that the packed bed reactor is able to deliver. In the oil and gas industry, it is
significant for a reactor that is able to produce large amounts of products, which in this
case, methanol. In addition, the design of the process flow diagram of the packed bed
reactor are connected to recycle pipes in liquid phase with the aid of a pump and in gaseous
phase with the help of a compressor enables the reactants involved in the reaction to be
recycled and used again in the reaction. Therefore, there is minimum methanol product loss
and the quality of the pure methanol is of high quality. Besides, the catalyst involved in the
packed bed reactor is easy to handle and thus less maintenance is involved. Thus, packed
bed reactor is key vital element in the oil and gas industry for the production of methanol.