Modeling and sensitivity analysis of styrene monomer production process and investigation of catalyst behavior

In this work, a fundamental kinetic model based upon the Hougen–Watson non-porosity formalism was derived and used to simulate dehydrogenation and oxidation axial flow reactors. In addition, partial pressure profiles of components during styrene production process inside porous catalyst were obtained using Dusty-Gas model. The preservation equations are adopted to calculate temperature and flow profiles in the reactors filled with iron–potassium promoted catalyst pellets. The presented mathematical model for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation consists of nonlinear simultaneous differential equations with multiple dependent variables. Simulation results such as selectivity and operating temperature for different conventional catalysts have been presented and compared with those of a new introduced catalyst based on Fe2O3. Comparison of simulation results with experimentally observed ones shows that the model can precisely predict behavior of the industrial unit. Furthermore, the obtained results show that application of the new introduced catalyst increase ethylbenzene conversion and decrease necessary inlet temperature.

► A fundamental kinetic model based on the Hougen–Watson formalism as non porosity model during dehydrogenation process.
► Partial pressure profiles by Dusty-Gas model for styrene production with porous catalyst pellets during dehydrogenation process.
► Application of new introduced catalyst to increase ethylbenzene conversion and decrease necessary inlet temperature.