Development and Validation of the Mathematical Model for Synthesis of Maleic Anhydride from n-butane in Fixed Bed Reactor

Abstract

The aims of this study were: development of the mathematical model for numerical simulation of partial oxidation of n-butane to maleic anhydride in a fixed bed reactor and validation of the developed mathematical model with real process data from an industrial reactor located in the Global Ispat Coke Industries Ltd., Lukavac. The mathematical model consisted of differential equations describing mass balances of each species, energy balance, stoichiometry of reactions, pressure drop, and a kinetic model. Numerical software package Polymath with Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method was used for numerical solution. The developed model was validated with three process data sets of five measured variables (temperature, pressure, concentration of n-butane, CO2, and CO) using ten kinetic models from literature. Comparison of simulation results and measured data showed good agreement for three kinetic models. Profiles of temperature, molar flows, conversion of n-butane and selectivity of maleic anhydride were also presented.