Batch conditions, photochemical reaction

Photochemical reactions are typically carried out under batch reaction conditions. 

If the size of the production unit requires higher radiant power than can be provided, for technical reasons, by one lamp, clusters of light sources may be installed, which, consequently will alter the diameter or the height of the inner core of, for example, an annular photochemical reactor. However, following the check list of concepts (vide supra), optimal reaction conditions will in most cases limit the size of the photochemical reactor, and the planned rate of production may require several reactor units installed in a parallel mode (batch process) or in series (continuous process). 

Batch processes using a number of photochemical reactors of optimal size in a parallel arrangement with a central unit in which optimal reaction conditions (temperature, gas saturation, mixing, etc.) can be maintained and classical operations of product separation can be performed (Figure 20). Such a production unit also permits maintenance of photochemical reactors without interruption or strong disturbance of an ongoing production or photolysis process. 

Flow reactors offer considerable advantages over sealed autoclaves for supercritical reactions. Not only do flow-reactors require a much lower volume than a batch reactor for a given throughput of material (with obvious safety advantages) but also it is much easier to optimise reaction conditions in a flow reactor. We have already reported [4,5] the use of a miniature flow-reactor for the photochemical preparation of unstable metal complexes. We are now extending these techniques to the study of thermal and catalytic reactions. As an initial stage we... 

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