Ethylbenzene Dehydrogenation Educational Unit Operations Pilot Plant

Introduction

The Ethylbenzene Dehydrogenation Educational Unit Operations Pilot Plant is an integrated laboratory teaching system designed for chemical engineering and process technology departments. This pilot plant replicates the industrial catalytic dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to produce styrene, providing students with a physical platform to study gas-solid heterogeneous catalytic reactions. By utilizing this equipment, students can gain practical experience in operating fixed-bed tubular reactors, evaluating the activity of iron oxide-based catalysts, and executing catalyst regeneration processes using steam to remove accumulated coke.

Tailored Configurations for Engineering Education

To match specific curriculum requirements and laboratory layouts, this pilot plant features a customizable design. Both the hardware components—such as reactor dimensions, fluid metering systems, and sensor selections—and the software control interfaces can be customized to align with your department's specific laboratory space and teaching objectives.

Key Educational Features and Benefits

• Realistic Industrial Process Emulation: The pilot plant features a classic fixed-bed tubular reactor coupled with a vaporizing preheater and a steam feed system, allowing students to observe real-world multiphase reaction dynamics.
• Practical Catalyst Lifecycle Management: Students gain direct experience in catalyst handling, activation, steady-state activity evaluation, and thermal/steam regeneration techniques to restore deactivated catalyst beds.
• Modern Process Automation & Data Acquisition: Equipped with an industrial touch-screen computer interface, the plant introduces students to supervisory control, real-time data logging, and automated process management.
• Advanced Safety Interlocks: Built-in hardware and software safety features, including automated over-temperature and over-pressure alarms, ensure safe operation within academic environments.
• Engineered for Shared Lab Spaces: Built on a robust, corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy frame with heavy-duty casters, the compact footprint allows the unit to be easily moved and stored when not in use.

Detail & Parts

Technical Specifications and Curriculum Mapping

The following table details the technical features of the pilot plant and maps them to core academic concepts found in standard chemical engineering curricula:

Integration with Academic Curriculum and Core Textbooks

This pilot plant is designed to bridge the gap between abstract mathematical models and physical chemical processes. The experimental modules directly correspond to key topics covered in major chemical engineering curricula globally.

By utilizing this pilot plant, professors can easily demonstrate core principles from standard reference texts:

• Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering: Instructors can practically demonstrate gas-solid reaction kinetics, catalytic bed pressure drop calculations, and mass transfer limitations in porous catalyst pellets.
• Transport Processes and Unit Operations: The system provides a tangible example of heat transfer in packed beds during highly endothermic reactions, as well as the transport phenomena involved in steam-catalyst interactions during decoking.
• Chemical Engineering Design: Students can evaluate the pilot plant's layout, instrumentation diagrams, and piping configurations, translating theoretical process design principles into an active physical operation.

Customization for Diverse Laboratory Environments

To ensure that the equipment fits into your specific educational environment, we offer customizable solutions across both hardware and software. Hardware modifications can include alternative reactor materials, customized sensor configurations (such as additional temperature profile probes), or alternative liquid and gas delivery rates. Software customization allows for tailored user interfaces, specialized data export formats, and integration with existing university laboratory management networks.

About LABPARK

LABPARK has spent over 20 years serving the global higher education sector, developing and manufacturing educational equipment focused on six primary engineering fields: chemistry, chemical engineering, biology, food science, pharmaceutical engineering, and environmental engineering.

Backed by a 49,000-square-meter production and R&D base, the company maintains a strong commitment to technological quality, holding 209 technical patents. To date, LABPARK has partnered with more than 289 universities worldwide, helping educators build safe, modern, and effective laboratory environments for the next generation of engineers.

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