Modeling of C-8 Aromatics Isomerization in a Radial Bed Reactor

Reactor models were developed to describe the isomerization reaction process of C-8 aromatics by applying a sixcomponent sequential reaction network. Lab-scale experimental data were used in an axial bed reactor model, and dynamic parameters were fitted by simulated annealing algorithm. In addition, industrial data and calculated dynamic parameters were used to determine the six-component concentration distributions using a radial reactor model. The influence of backmixing on reaction performance was investigated. It was found that the model considering back-mixing was much closer to the real industrial reaction process.