Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization of fluidized and fixed bed reaction of Ammonia and Methanol processes

Abstract

The aim of this research is to model, optimize and simulate ammonia and methanol production processes in fixed bed reactors and fluidized bed reactors. Mathematical models have been developed to simulate these processes by applying the material and energy balances to the systems concerned, and obtain differential equations which were solved by MATLAB. The research also discussed the effect of different operating parameters on the production rate. In the ammonia synthesis, the conversion of nitrogen in the fixed bed reactors was 26.76%, while in the fluidized bed reactors it increased to 40.26%. In the methanol synthesis, methanol production in fixed bed reactors was 857 kmol/h, while its production rate in fluidized bed reactors was 1114.1 kmol/h for feed flow rate of 47400 Kmol/h, with an increase of 30%. By simulating these four processes in the HYSYS simulation program, it has been concluded that the models developed give relative values to the simulation values and can therefore be relied upon.