Patent EP-2075058-B1 (EP)
Inventor: BANK ROLF
IPC: B01J8/06
Filed: 2008-11-14
Granted: 2010-10-20
Abstract: A tube bundle reactor (1) for endothermic or exothermic gas phase reactions comprises bundle of tubes filled with catalyst, having their ends fastened tightly in tube sheets (3, 4), a fluid heat carrier (10); shell (5), gas inlet head (6), gas outlet head (7), stage thermometer (9) installed inside tube (2) and axially movable inside tube. The reactor has mechanical positioning unit (8) for axial movement of thermometer. The thermometer has teletransmission unit (29a) to transmit measured values to remote control center (30). The positioning units have units to receive control signals. A tube bundle reactor (1) for carrying out endothermic or exothermic gas phase reactions comprises a tube bundle of reactor tubes filled with catalyst, having their ends fastened tightly in tube sheets (3, 4), a fluid heat carrier (10) flowing around the tubes during operation; a shell (5) enclosing the tube bundle, a gas inlet head (6) spanning one of the tube sheets, a gas outlet head (7) spanning the other tube sheet, where the reactor tubes are in fluid communication with the gas inlet and outlet heads, at least one stage thermometer (9) installed in a thermometer tube (2) disposed in the tube bundle, where the at least one stage thermometer is axially movable inside the thermometer tube. The tube bundle reactor comprises a mechanical positioning unit (8) to effect the axial movement of the stage thermometer, and the at least one stage thermometer comprises a teletransmission unit (29a) adapted to transmit the measured values to a remote control center (30). The mechanical positioning units comprise units for the reception of control signals from that control center. The at least one stage thermometer in the thermometer tube is arranged inside a protective tube (33). An independent claim is included for measuring a temperature profile in a tube bundle reactor involving preparing the temperature measurement by fixing the minimum measuring range, fixing the spacing between adjacent individual thermometers and determining the number of individual thermometers required or fixing the number of individual thermometers and determining the spacing between adjacent individual thermometers, fixing the working traverse of the stage thermometer in response to the spacing between adjacent individual thermometers, and for carrying out the temperature measurement by moving the stage thermometer to a start position by the mechanical positioning unit and defining a reference point, passing through the working traverse at a step width of delta x=1/n*x, where n is greater than 1, in fractional steps of waiting until the rate of change of the temperature falls short of a predetermined value or alternatively fixing corresponding time interval, moving the stage thermometer to the next measuring position at the distance of the step width delta x, repeating the individual fractional steps up to the end of the working traverse, determining the temperature extremal value, being the highest temperature with an exothermic reaction and the lowest temperature with an endothermic reaction.