During the production of ethylene dichloride, the entrainment of catalyst particles out of the bed is considered a problematic issue that affects the conversion of the hydrogen dichloride and causes repeated unit shut down. In this study the effect of the various operating conditions was measured; the fluidizing gas flowrate, the bed parameters, the reaction conditions, and the static design parameters such as the internal orifice diameter of the distributer. A simulation model was built using Mat Lab and Aspen Plus software. The results from both models were compared with the sample analysis data obtained from the laboratory.
It was found that when the entering gas flow rate reached 2570.4 m3/hr, the bubble diameter of the fluidizing gas reached maximum value, and hence, the entrainment of catalyst particles was at the lowest quantity of about 8.2 Kg/m2.s. In addition, it was found that as the pressure drop through the orifice of the distributer decrease the entrainment of solids increase until an orifice diameter of 1 cm is reached, hence, the lowest rate of entrainment of catalyst particles is achieved. at such conditions the highest conversion of ethylene and HCL into Ethylene dichloride could be reached.