Dec. 24, 2021
Inert porcelain balls are generally used as support and covering materials for catalysts in the reactor, which can buffer the impact of liquid and gas entering the reactor on the catalyst, protect the catalyst and improve the distribution of liquid and gas in the reactor. It has the characteristics of high temperature and high pressure resistance, low water absorption and stable chemical properties, and can withstand the corrosion of acids, alkalis and other organic solvents, as well as the temperature changes that occur during the production process. Due to the widespread use, the economic benefits brought by inert porcelain balls are quite considerable.
First of all, let's talk about the production process of inert porcelain balls. The raw material of porcelain balls is generally decided according to the aluminum content of the balls and the usage - high alumina balls with Al2O3 powder as the main raw material, while medium alumina balls with kaolin and Guizhou clay and high white alumina mud as raw material.
① Formulation according to the requirements of water absorption, aluminum content, strength resistance, etc., and then ball milling.
②Production of clay bars for inert porcelain balls through filter press and vacuum machine (during which proper moisture should be ensured).
③ to carry out accurate cutting of the clay bar (the size of the clay bar and the size of the inert porcelain balls to be produced) and select the extrusion and forming process for its accurate forming.
④Semi-finished products into the drying room or natural drying and then loaded into the kiln.
⑤ high temperature sintering of semi-finished products of inert porcelain balls.
⑥Screening and packaging of the finished products.
Among the molding methods are mainly semi-isostatic (dry bag method) molding, isostatic molding and rolling molding. Firing kilns are mainly high-temperature tunnel kilns and shuttle kilns.
Inert porcelain balls of different sizes or application position, the application also differs. Some of them are to play a role in supporting and isolating catalysts or various agents; some are to play a separate support role, while ensuring the gap between the spheres to reduce the pressure drop at the process end. It is mainly used in petrochemical, coal and other environmental industries.
As an example, in the natural gas steam reforming ammonia plant, each fixed bed catalytic reactor (high change furnace, low change furnace, methanation furnace) need to be filled with porcelain balls under the catalyst bed. The porcelain ball is divided into the upper installation and the lower installation: the upper porcelain ball mainly plays a role in improving the feed distribution, preventing impact, once the low temperature, liquid and other short-sighted phenomenon, can first warm up on the porcelain ball, vaporization, to prevent the catalyst from impact; the lower porcelain ball is mainly to reduce the catalyst filling, to prevent small particles of catalyst into the role of downstream.
The size of the porcelain ball mainly depends on the size of the catalyst to decide. Because in actual production, it is necessary to ensure that the catalyst will not pass through the porcelain ball layer even if the porcelain ball breaks in half, generally speaking, the diameter of the porcelain ball should be twice the diameter of its adjacent catalyst, so that the distribution of the material is most even and optimized.
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