Reaction performance of fluidized bed catalytic reactor of Group C⁺ particles

Group C particles are often regarded as non-fluidizable but have proven to effectively fluidize with nanoparticle addition, which results in small bubbles and a high gas holdup in the dense phase during the experiments. Group C⁺ particles provide an increased surface area for gas–solid contact and improve the reaction performance, especially for gas-phase catalytic reactions. On the basis of a previous study of the ozone decomposition reaction using Group C⁺ particles, a two-phase model was used to evaluate the reactor contact efficiency, and was used to compare the partial oxidation performance of the n-butane to maleic anhydride reaction in fluidized-bed catalytic reactors of Group C⁺ and Group A particles. The reactor with Group C⁺ particles achieved a higher n-butane conversion and MAN yield compared with that using Group A particles, based on the identical catalyst quantity or on the same gas residence time. Therefore, the reactor with Group C⁺ particles can achieve the same reaction conversion and yield with fewer catalysts or a smaller reactor size, or both. Therefore, the fluidized bed catalytic reactor of Group C⁺ particles is expected to be of major significance in industrial processes, especially for gas-phase catalytic reactions.