Abstract: A method and device for the endothermic catalytic reaction of a supply flow is disclosed. The supply flow is divided into at least two partial flows that are parallelly guided through reactor tubes, which are situated inside the combustion chamber of a reactor and which are at least partially filled with a catalyst material or of a catalytically active structured packing or the interior thereof is at least partially surface-coated with a catalytically active material. The partial flows are guided inside a number of passages in the reactor tubes through the combustion chamber inside of which suitable burners guarantee an intense circulation of the combustion chamber atmosphere.

Abstract: Heat transfer equipment is provided having a chamber adapted to contain a bed of free-flowing granular material and a plurality of spirally wound cylindrical tube coils nested together which extend concentrically around a centrally positioned tube collector. Each tube coil is wound on a cylindrical surface having an axis coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the chamber. The tubes at least at the top end of the chamber emerge from the coil and remain on the cylindrical surface as they extend in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis. The tubes then bend about 90.degree. and extend radially toward the longitudinal axis and connect to the centrally positioned tube collector. In the radial run, the tubes from different tube coils overlap one another on the top of the coils and extend radially over substantially the same outer surface of the tube coils. A retaining device adapted to be removed in sections is positioned below the tubes in the chamber.

Abstract: For conducting exothermic catalytic reactions, e.g., production of methane from CO.sub.x and H.sub.2, a reactor is cooled internally by indirect heat exchange with a single heat exchanger provided in the reactor feed inlet region with a gradually increasing surface intensity (defined as the product of the overall coefficient of thermal conductivity, (h), of the tube wall times the cooling surface density, m.sup.2 /m.sup.3) reaching a maximum intensity at a central zone of the heat exchanger where the preponderant cooling occurs. A zone of gradually decreasing cooling surface intensity may also be provided at the outlet end of the reactor, and uncooled adiabatic zones may be incorporated in the zones immediate the inlet and outlet ends of the reactor.

Abstract: A methanol-synthesis reactor has a housing receiving a catalyst packing and coils of cooling tubes surrounding a core tube and disposed in helical radially spaced layers coaxial with the core tube. According to the invention, the internal diameters of the cooling tubes are from 4 to 50 mm, the distance between neighboring tubes in a direction transverse to the axis and the direction of fluid flow through the catalyst packing is between 2 and 20 times the smallest longitudinal dimension of the catalyst particles and the distance between neighboring tubes measured in the direction of the synthesis gas flow is less than 10 times the transverse distance.