Optimizing Styrene Monomer Yield in Adiabatic Radial Reactors of Ethylbenzene Dehydrogenation using Taguchi Design method

چکیده مقاله

after ethylene, styrene monomer as the second most important polymer is the basic building block of polymers such as polystyrene, styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene butadiene latex, resins, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) used in adhesive, textile, refrigerator, and disposable container industries. Totally, 80% of styrene monomer is produced through dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene. The basic reaction is an endothermic reaction with chemical equilibrium where there is a limitation in ethylbenzene conversion. Any improvement in operating conditions, reactor design and catalyst structure significantly increases profits. In this study, main operating parameters (e.g. pressure, reactor temperature, and steam to oil (ethylbenzene) ratio) are changed based on Taguchi design. Taguchi test design is a statistical method used in selecting and reducing the number of tests, reducing the dispersion of results around the ideal target value, analyzing effects of parameters both individually and with interference, and calculating optimum values. Comparing results obtained by simulation and results reported for the reactor of an industrial unit demonstrated than the average yield of styrene monomer in 32 tests was 66.62% and the predicted value for the design was 68 Wt%. At the end of optimization process, this value was increased to 68.557 %. This means that yield was increased 1.94% compared to the current conditions and 0.56% compared to the design.

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