Modelling of hydrodesulphurization in industrial trickle bed reactor using mixing cell network approach

Abstract

A mixing cell network (MCN) was developed for the commercial diesel hydrodesulphurization process (DHDS) in a trickle bed reactor (TBR). The two-phase model is developed to simulate the performance of an industrial DHDS unit. Major hydrotreating reactions such as hydrodesulphurization (HDS), hydrodearomatization (HDA), and olefin saturation were accounted for in the developed model. The MCN model predictions on axial concentration profiles of sulphur, polynuclear aromatics (PNAs), monoaromatics (MAs), and temperature were found to be in agreement with the real-time plant data. Further, the predicted results were also compared with the plug flow model to confirm model adequacy. The results obtained in this paper show the efficacy of the MCN model in simulating multiple reactions happening in real industrial scenarios. © 2021 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering.