Annular swirling jet reactor for converting hydrocarbons to olefins and aromatics

•Novel high-centrifugal force reactor for cracking ethane.•Annular jet in highly swirling flows.•Hydrodynamic stabilization of robust oxy-enriched hydrogen flames.•Extremely fast mixing between combustion products and C2H6 resulting in high olefins yield.•Process intensification by enabling high heat transfer through the physics of highly swirling flows. This paper describes a novel reactor for high temperature thermochemical conversion of ethane to olefins. The central feature is an efficient flow pattern with a large recirculation zone that provides stable and compact 2500 °C flame and a thin conical annular swirling jet that provides fast transfer of mass, momentum, and heat. The jet is directed through a unique converging–diverging nozzle that maintains relatively low wall temperature and consequently reduces the need for external cooling. The hydrocarbons stream is introduced tangentially through volutes in such a way that there is initially heat transfer with minimal mass transfer followed by fast mixing of countercurrent streams. CFD simulations with detailed kinetics were employed to design and optimize this reactor including the order of the volutes to feed ethane, H2 fuel, oxidizer (O2 and N2 mix), and a cooling N2 gas; oxygen enrichment of the air, and also the overall operating conditions of this flexible and robust reactor. This highly intensified reactor was fabricated and tested at a semi-pilot scale with up to 15 kg/hr feed. The optimized reactor has high selectivity to ethylene and acetylene comparable to conventional steam cracker.