Effect of the switch strategy on the performance and stability of reactor networks for methanol synthesis

A network of catalytic reactors with a periodic switching of the feed and discharge position (also called loop reactor) is studied for reversible exothermic reactions like methanol synthesis. The aim of the study is the comparison of two different switching strategies in overcoming the conversion limits imposed by the thermodynamic equilibrium. The first strategy, that is the only considered in previous works, consists of changing at each switch time the feed/discharge positions, so that the first reactor of the NTW is moved to the last place. The second strategy consists in moving the last reactor in the first place each switch time. We show through numerical simulations that the second forcing strategy is more convenient in terms of yield and methanol conversion, because it is able to create a conversion/temperature path closer to the optimal one