New internals for urea production reactors

Fluid dynamics and its influence on heat and mass transport rates in gas–liquid reactors is, in general, an important starting point for development of a process design. Improvements in the understanding of these aspects can be particularly fruitful in the case of urea reactors where the fluid-dynamic patterns are complicated by the co-current flow of two phases and the bubbling mode of the vapors. The analysis of such systems highlighted the non-optimal design of existing reactors and led to the conception of new reactor internals. Several industrial applications demonstrate the ability of the new configuration to improve reactor efficiency. Both energy-saving and production increases were obtained. This is a further demonstration that even mature technologies can be improved, leading not only to economic advantages, but also to a reduction in their environmental impact.