Optimal synthesis of rotating packed bed reactor

The rotating packed bed (RPB), a novel apparatus involving process intensification (PI), has been successfully adopted in the chemical industry in recent decades. This study demonstrates a superstructure synthesis approach for evaluating PI equipment through a case study involving an RPB and a packed bed (PB). A multiscale model links the micro-mechanisms of intensification in the RPB with the macro-level decisions of equipment selection and interconnection. The proposed superstructure considers configurations of an RPB and PB in series, in parallel, and in between, allowing quantification of their synergy. The overall model is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem and is demonstrated with the case of H2S removal from refinery tail gas.