Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures. Pyrolysis processes have a wide variety of uses throughout industry—they are used to break down heavy hydrocarbons in oil refining, for example, and to reduce organic matter to elemental carbon for charcoal production.
Pyrolysis reactors are particularly well suited for Equilibar technology because they involve extremely high temperatures — often 400 °C or greater — and frequently involve mixed phase flows or solid particles present within the process stream. These are process conditions in which Equilibar back pressure regulators excel.
Advantages of Equilibar technology for pyrolysis
Equilibar’s multiple orifice diaphragm technology is easily customized to meet demands of specific applications, including the extremely high temperature process conditions in pyrolysis. Equilibar’s high temperature back pressure regulators use metal diaphragms and either graphite gasket seals (up to 450 °C) or silver-coated Inconel c-ring seals (up to 550 °C).
For pyrolysis processes involving multi-phase flows or solids in the process streams, the multi-orifice design of the Equilibar valve offers the advantage of being more resistant to clogging than traditional single seat valves. It is also easy to disassemble for cleaning if necessary.
Methane Pyrolysis
A new application page explains pressure control for pyrolysis in detail and provides a spotlight on methane pyrolysis as one example of how it is used in industry.
Methane pyrolysis is an increasingly popular means of producing hydrogen because it has a minimal carbon footprint and requires no rare metal catalysts.
In a methane pyrolysis process, a reactor is generally heated to between 1000 – 1200 °C. Methane is fed into the reactor and then decomposes into hydrogen as well as solid carbon, which can be abrasive and can easily foul or clog traditional valves. In this situation, Equilibar can provide a hardened steel orifice insert or body to mitigate erosion. The valve can also be constructed with graphite or all metal seals.
Another advantage of Equilibar back pressure regulators is that they are easily automated by using an electronic pilot regulator to control the reference pressure above the diaphragm. This allows for stable control and remote monitoring without the need for an operator or technician to manually intervene.
Visit our new Pressure Control for Pyrolysis Processes application page for more information and as always, we invite you to contact our application engineers to discuss innovative ways to handle your specific fluid control challenge.