CATALYST LOADING APPARATUS FOR UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTING CATALYST PARTICLES RADIALLY ACROSS A LARGE DIAMETER BED IN A REACTOR VESSEL

摘要

An apparatus for uniformly distributing catalyst particles across the full diameter of a catalyst bed causes a multiplicity of annular rings of catalyst concentric with the bed center to be achieved without varying rotor speed by deflecting catalyst from a feed tube (40) into a plurality of arcuate sectors (24) or portions of different radial lengths on a rotating disc (20). Depending upon the overall cross-sectional area of the vessel, the cylindrical volume of catalyst flowing from the feed tube may be divided into an outer annular column and an inner cylindrical column. In a preferred embodiment this may be done by a frusto-conical member extending upwardly and inwardly into the feed tube from the main distribution surface of the disc. Another plurality of separate arcuate flow paths (52-58) of different radial lengths are rotated by the single rotor or disc. Desirably, each other path is shorter than the radius of any of the arcuate portions formed by the disc. IMAGE