Reverse flow reactors having low maldistribution parameter while containing asymmetric feeds, methods of using same, and pyrolysis products made from same

Abstract

Reverse flow reactor (RFR) apparatuses exhibiting asymmetric feed profiles and improved flow distribution during heating mode and/or pyrolysis mode operation, and methods of using same to transform a hydrocarbon feed into a pyrolysed hydrocarbon product are disclosed. The RFR apparatus includes an RFR body with a reaction zone having at least one bed. The RFR body has a central vertical axis and is flanked by first and second void spaces. The method utilizes at least two oxygen-containing feeds, a combustion fuel feed, a purge feed, and a hydrocarbon pyrolysis feed. The RFR apparatus can cycle between an exothermic heating mode (heated to ≥700° C. while maintaining a pressure drop across the reaction zone of ≤100 kPag), a purge mode (purging oxygen using <6 bed volumes of purge gas while maintaining a pressure drop of ≤35 kPag), and an endothermic pyrolysis mode (feeding pyrolysis hydrocarbons through the reaction zone to form pyrolysis products, while maintaining a pressure drop across the reaction zone of ≤70 kPag).