Acetylene hydrogenation is an important device in the ethylene plant. Assume that the reaction kinetic and deactivation model are known

we optimize the acetylene convert loads between two reactors in series. The result shows that the H2/C2H2 ratio of the lead reactor should be less than 1.0 and the one in guard reactor can increase from 1.9 to 3.5 according the requirement. After taking account of the operation cost and product price

we further optimize the reactor switch strategy when the acetylene convert load is optimal. In order to get a net gain of ethylene

the lead reactor should run in 14 months while the guard one should run in 4 months.