Dynamic aspects of adiabatic trickle bed reactor control near the boiling point of reaction mixture

The paper deals with the approximation of the adiabatic trickle bed reactor behaviour by the dynamic model based on a cascade of continuous stirred tank reactors. The model was applied to the description of the ''bang-bang'' feed concentration control procedure depending on the maximum temperature value reached in the cascade. The model solution results in transient concentration and temperature waves moving through the cascade. Periodic temperature functions were perceived by the harmonic analysis using Fourier's method applied to the numerical data in order to develop the effective control algorithm. The qualitative agreement between the numerical solution and the experimental results measured during cyclohexene hydrogenation on palladium catalyst was confirmed.