Biazzi hydrogenation process

Stirred tank reactors are mostly used because they provide a rapid means of obtaining a uniform composition and temperature throughout the reaction mixture they also offer the flexibility required for the small-scale production of many different molecules. Companies such as Biazzi, Davy Process Technology (Buss loop technology), DeDietrich and others provide technology adapted to hydrogenations (i.e., pressures up to 100 bar and temperatures up to 200 °C) [45-47]. Here, some scale-up issues related to stirred tank reactors are described. 

The stirred flow reactor is frequently chosen when temperature control is a critical aspect, as in the nitration of aromatic hydrocarbons or glycerine (Biazzi-process). The stirred flow reactor is also chosen when the conversion must take place at a constant composition, as in the copol3rmerization of butadiene and styrene, or when a reaction between two phases has to be carried out, or when a catalyst must be kept in suspension as in the polymerization of ethylene with Ziegler catalyst, the hydrogenation of a-methylstyrene to cumene, and the air oxidation of cumene to acetone and phenol (Hercules-Distillers process). 

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