Producing Ethylene by Oxidatively Dehydrogenating Ethane

A process for producing ethylene by oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane using a shell-and-tube reactor having reaction tubes extending between a first end and a second end includes disposing one or more catalyst beds in each of the reaction tubes. In each of the reaction tubes, a ratio of a total length of the one or more catalyst beds between the first end and the second end to a diameter of each of the reaction tubes has a value between 150 and 400. The shell-and-tube reactor is operated at a linear velocity of 250 to 800 cm/s, and the one or more catalyst beds are configured such that a ratio of active catalyst mass to effective cooling area is in a range between 1.5 and 5 kg/m2.