Description:FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to apparatus and processes for a gas solid distributor to be incorporated in a fluidized bed reactor. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a gas distributor apparatus in a fluidized bed reactor for carbon generation.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0002] The following description of the related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section is used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of the prior art.
[0003] Numerous conversion processes are used in petrochemical industries where catalysts are used and processes are realized in fluidized bed reactors (FBRs). However, gas-solid fluidized bed reactors may vary significantly depending on the nature of the gas, the solids, and the operating conditions, which may lead to different hydrodynamic behaviours. Gas distributors are usually used in fluidized bed operations where porous plates, perforated plates, and tuyere nozzles may be incorporated. A gas distributor helps to ensure uniform gas distribution to achieve a stable operation. However, due to pressure drop across the distributor, gas-pumping cost through a fluidized bed may be high. Further, in chemical reactors, the gas passage may be clogged by fine particles, where the gas distributor design influences the performance of a fluidized bed reactor.
[0004] A hydrocarbon catalytic decomposition system such as the catalytic decomposition of methane to hydrogen and solid carbon is a low carbon dioxide footprint hydrogen production technology. This technology is scaled up using a fluidized bed system inside an integrated reactor unit. Continuous deposition of carbon on gas distributors leads to a pressure increase in reactor system and leads to premature termination of a reaction. Current gas distributors use a sieved / porous plate gas distributor that gets plugged due to carbon formation as a part of the catalytic decomposition of methane. This limits the reaction time of the catalyst and leads to blocking of the integrated reactor unit due to the pressure build up.
[0005] There is, therefore, a need in the art to provide a system and a method that can mitigate the problems associated with the prior arts.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are listed herein below.
[0007] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a gas distributor with a fluidised bed reactor (FBR) in an integrated reactor for allowing hydrocarbon decomposition to generate hydrogen and one or more carbon forms.
[0008] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a gas distributor with multiple apertures to allow a feed gas to penetrate the FBR in the integrated reactor unit and generate products upon complete utilization of the catalyst without blocking the integrated reactor unit.
[0009] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a hexagonal head fastener as the gas distributor, where the hexagonal head fastener has multiple apertures that allow the feed gas into the FBR and enable a reaction in the presence of a catalyst.
[0010] It is an object of the present disclosure where the hexagonal head fastener is positioned with a triangular or a rectangular pitch on a plate and allows the feed gas to enter the FBR through the multiple apertures.
[0011] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a gas distributor that allows complete utilization of the catalyst life time by providing a non-plugging distribution system.

SUMMARY
[0012] This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the present disclosure in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0013] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates to a hydrocarbon catalytic decomposition system that may include one or more gas distributors positioned on a fluidised bed reactor (FBR) included in an integrated reactor unit for allowing hydrocarbon decomposition in the integrated reactor to generate one or more products.
[0014] In an embodiment, the one or more gas distributors may be arranged on a plate including one or more apertures to allow a feed gas to penetrate the FBR and generate the one or more products upon complete utilization of a catalyst.
[0015] In an embodiment, the catalyst may be an active metal catalyst activated by the penetration of the feed gas.
[0016] In an embodiment, the one or more gas distributors may be hexagonal head fasteners positioned in a triangular or a rectangular pitch on the plate.
[0017] In an embodiment, the hexagonal head fasteners may have a pitch ranging from 0.5D to 50D, where D may be a diameter of the hexagonal head fasteners.
[0018] In an embodiment, the size of the one or more apertures may be determined based on a weight hourly velocity of the feed gas.
[0019] In an embodiment, the generated one or more products may include one or more carbon forms deposited on the catalyst and a product gas including methane and hydrocarbons.
[0020] In an embodiment, the one or more gas distributors may be one or more conduits of varying dimensions distributed on the plate, and where projection of the one or more conduits from the plate allows the feed gas to enter the FBR and cause the reaction in the presence of the catalyst.
[0021] In an embodiment, the one or more conduits may include the one or more apertures to allow the feed gas to enter the FBR.
[0022] In an embodiment, the one or more apertures may have a diameter ranging from of 0.25 to 10 millimetres.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal circuitry of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes the disclosure of electrical components, electronic components, or circuitry commonly used to implement such components.
[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary integrated reactor (100) incorporating a gas distributor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary representation (200) of top view and bottom view of the gas distributor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary cross section of a hexagonal head (300) of the gas distributor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary representation (400) of top view and side view of a gas distributor with a rod, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0028] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.

DEATILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address all of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.
[0030] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth.
[0031] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[0032] The word “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word without precluding any additional or other elements.
[0033] Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “an instance” or “one instance” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0034] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
[0035] The various embodiments throughout the disclosure will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGs. 1-4.
[0036] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary integrated reactor (100) incorporating a gas distributor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0037] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the present disclosure relates to catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbon to hydrogen and solid carbon in an integrated reactor (102). The integrated reactor (102) may include various components and may be equipped with a fluidised bed reactor (FBR). Hydrogen and one or more carbon forms may be produced during a hydrocarbon decomposition process. Fluidization behaviour may differ based on the operating conditions of the reactor (102) such as gas velocity, and gas and solid properties.
[0038] In an embodiment, the one or more carbon forms may include a graphitic carbon form, a carbon nanofiber, a carbon nano tubes (CNT), and an amorphous carbon form.
[0039] In an embodiment, gas flow regimes in the FBR may include, but not limited to, a fixed bed flow, a homogeneous flow, a bubbling flow, a slugging flow, a turbulent flow, a fast fluidization flow, and a pneumatic transport flow.
[0040] In an embodiment, the integrated reactor (102) may include a hydrocarbon feed gas tank, at least FBRs, and a heat recovery unit to recover heat from the product gases and produce a heated fluid stream. Further, a catalyst reactor may be included to receive the catalyst support, active metal catalyst, and the heated fluid stream for catalyst preparation. A carbon nano tube (CNT) collector may be included to collect the product CNTs. Each fluidized bed reactor may include a shell and trays disposed as cantilevers at different heights along a height of the shell to hold the active metal catalyst. Successive trays may be attached to diametrically opposite ends of the shell and each tray may include a weir at a free end to form a catalyst holding volume on the tray. Catalyst inlets may be provided over each tray to allow the active metal catalyst to be placed on the trays. Gas distributors may be provided below each tray for allowing the hydrocarbon feed gas to enter the reactor for undergoing the cracking reaction in presence of the active metal catalyst to produce, but not limited to, the H-CNG and CNTs. Further, a gas outlet may be included on a top of the shell to allow the product gases including H-CNG to exit the reactor. A catalyst outlet may be included at a bottom of the shell to remove the spent catalyst including CNTs from the integrated reactor (102) on stopping the reaction.
[0041] In another embodiment, the integrated reactor (102) may include a reaction cycle in a first FBR loaded with a catalyst. The reaction cycle may include the steps of activating the catalyst using a first gas such as a hydrogen gas, where the catalyst may include an active metal catalyst. Further, a hydrocarbon feed gas may be passed through the FBR after stopping passage of the first gas allowing a cracking reaction to proceed for a predefined time in the FBR. Hence, to obtain a spent catalyst including CNTs deposited on the catalyst, a product gas comprising H-CNG and an entrained spent catalyst may be obtained. The product gas and the spent catalyst may be removed at predetermined time intervals from the FBR to separate the entrained spent catalyst and the product gas. However, continuous deposition of carbon on the gas distributor may lead to a pressure increase in the H-CNG reactor system and may cause premature termination of the reaction.
[0042] In an embodiment, one or more gas distributors (106) may be used in place of conventional sieved plates in the FBR and a hexagonal head fastener (104) may be incorporated as a part of the one or more gas distributors (106). This may ensure an extended reaction time without increasing the pressure of system and choking the integrated reactor unit (102). Further, an extended reaction time and complete utilization of activity of catalyst may produce but not limited to the H-CNG and the CNTs.
[0043] In an embodiment, the one or more gas distributors (106) may be provided for allowing a hydrocarbon feed gas to enter the integrated reactor unit (102) for undergoing the cracking reaction in presence of an active metal catalyst to produce but not limited to the H-CNG and the CNTs. The one or more gas distributors (106) may be positioned on the FBR.
[0044] In an embodiment, the one or more gas distributors (106) may be arranged on a plate (108), where one or more apertures (110) may be included in the one or more gas distributors (106) to allow the feed gas to penetrate the FBR and generate H-CNG and CNTs. The H-CNG and CNTs may be generated upon complete utilization of the active metal catalyst without plugging the integrated reactor unit (102). The size of the one or more apertures (110) may be determined based on a weight hourly velocity of the feed gas.
[0045] In an embodiment, the hexagonal head fastener (104) may be positioned in a triangular or a rectangular pitch on the plate (108). The hexagonal head fastener (104) may include configurations with various pitches and lengths. In an embodiment, the hexagonal head fastener (104) may have a pitch ranging from 1D to 50D, where D is the diameter of the hexagonal head fastener (104).
[0046] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary representation (200) of top view and bottom view of the gas distributor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0047] As illustrated in FIG. 2, a top view of the gas distributor (202) is shown. The gas distributor (202) may include one or more apertures (204) having a diameter ranging from 0.25 to 10 millimetre made for the hydrocarbon feed gas entry. A bottom view of the gas distributor (206) is shown with the one or more apertures (204) that may allow entry of the hydrocarbon feed gas into the FBR.
[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary cross section of a hexagonal head fastener (300) of the gas distributor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0049] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the hexagonal head fastener (300) of the gas distributor may vary in diameter. In an exemplary embodiment, the hexagonal head fastener (300) may have diameters such as, but not limited to, 50 millimetres, 70 millimetres, and 90 millimetres.
[0050] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary representation (400) of top view and side view of a gas distributor with a rod, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0051] As illustrated in FIG. 4, in an embodiment, the one or more gas distributors (e.g., 106) may include one or more conduits/rods (402-A) of varying dimensions distributed on a plate (404). The projection of the one or more conduits from the plate (404) may allow the hydrocarbon feed gas to enter the FBR and cause the reaction in the presence of the active metal catalyst. Further, the one or more conduits (402-A) may include the one or more apertures (406) to allow the hydrocarbon feed gas to enter the FBR.
[0052] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be implemented merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
[0053] The present disclosure provides a gas distributor with a fluidised bed reactor (FBR) in an integrated reactor for allowing hydrocarbon decomposition to generate hydrogen and carbon.
[0054] The present disclosure provides a gas distributor with multiple apertures that allows complete utilization of a catalyst by providing a non-plugging distribution system.
[0055] The present disclosure provides a hexagonal head fastener as the gas distributor, where the hexagonal head fastener incorporates multiple apertures to allow a feed gas into the FBR and generates a catalytic decomposition of methane into hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas (H-CNG) and one or more carbon forms.
[0056] The present disclosure provides a gas distributor with multiple apertures that allows the feed gas to penetrate the FBR in an integrated reactor unit and generate H-CNG and the one or more carbon forms without blocking the integrated reactor unit.
, Claims:1. A gas distributor system, comprising:
one or more gas distributors positioned on a fluidised bed reactor (FBR) comprised in an integrated reactor unit for allowing hydrocarbon decomposition in the integrated reactor unit to generate one or more products.

2. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more gas distributors are arranged on a plate comprising one or more apertures to allow a feed gas to penetrate the FBR and generate the one or more products upon complete utilization of a catalyst.

3. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the catalyst is an active metal catalyst activated by the penetration of the feed gas.

4. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the one or more gas distributors are hexagonal head fasteners positioned in a triangular or a rectangular pitch on the plate.

5. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the hexagonal head fasteners have a pitch ranging from 0.5D to 50D, and wherein D is a diameter of the hexagonal head fasteners.

6. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the size of the one or more apertures is determined based on a weight hourly velocity of the feed gas.

7. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the generated one or more products comprise one or more carbon forms deposited on the catalyst and a product gas including methane and hydrocarbons.

8. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the one or more gas distributors are one or more conduits of varying dimensions distributed on the plate, and wherein projection of the one or more conduits from the plate allows the feed gas to enter the FBR and cause the reaction in the presence of the catalyst.

9. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the one or more conduits comprise the one or more apertures to allow the feed gas to enter the FBR.

10. The gas distributor system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the one or more apertures have a diameter ranging from of 0.25 to 10 millimetres.