Catalysed reactions reactor type

Several types of reaction may be carried out in a chromatographic reactor. The reaction can be chemical or biochemical, taking place on the stationary phase, in the mobile phase, or both. The stationary phase must be chosen to have a good retention (affinity) for at least one component of the reaction system, and in some cases it has to act as a catalyst or catalyst support. Chromatographic reactors are particularly suited to enzyme-catalysed reactions such as the inversion of sucrose and biosynthesis of dextran, to various... 

Type of Reaction and Application. An increased emphasis on gas-solid reactions has been evident for about a decade. Three of the papers in this symposium treat gas-solid reactions, two (13,18) dealing with coal combustion and the other (11) with catalyst regeneration. Of the four papers which consider solid-catalysed gas-phase reactions, one (15) deals with a specific application (production of maleic anhydride), and one (12) treats an unspecified consecutive reaction of the type A B C the other two (14,16) are concerned with unspecified first order irreversible reactions. The final paper (17) considers a relatively recent application, fluidized bed aerosol filtration. Principles of fluid bed reactor modeling are directly applicable to such a case Aerosol particles disappear by adsorption on the collector (fluidized) particles much as a gaseous component disappears by reaction in the case of a solid-catalysed reaction. 

Heterogeneously catalysed reactions are two-, three-, or even more than three-phase operations. Solid catalyst and gaseous and liquid reactants are brought in contact to achieve the desired conversion. Some of the reactor types that are used are briefly presented here for background information with generalized remarks on their advantages and disadvantages. 

Chapter 2 covers the basic principles of chemical kinetics and catalysis and gives a brief introduction on classification and types of chemical reactors. Differential and integral methods of analysis of rate equations for different types of reactions—irreversible and reversible reactions, autocatalytic reactions, elementary and non-elementary reactions, and series and parallel reactions are discussed in detail. Development of rate equations for solid catalysed reactions and enzyme catalysed biochemical reactions are presented. Methods for estimation of kinetic parameters from batch reactor data are explained with a number of illustrative examples and solved problems. 

An interesting situation arises in processes where the reaction product P evaporates and is taken out of the reactor with the gas phase (the supply phase). Let us assume that there are no chemical reactions in the gas phase, e.g., l ause the liquid phase reaction is catalysed. We consider the case of rapid reactions, so that all the desired product P is formed in the diffusion layer in the liquid phase, close to the interface. When P can undergo undesired reactions in the liquid phase it is essential to remove P as effectively as we can, e.g., by creating a large surface area and very high gas-phase mass transfer coefficients. At the same time it is essential that the volume of the liquid phase is minimized, since decomposition of P will occur just there. The obvious choice would then be a configuration where the liquid is the dispersed phase, such as in a spray tower or a spray cyclone, provided the heat removal rate is sufficient. Another suitable arrangement could be a gas/liquid packed bed or a wetted wall column. The latter reactor type is very suitable for heat removal (section 4.6.3.1)... 

Microwave-promoted palladium-catalysed processes have found wide general application (see Chapter 2). A Larock-type heteroannulation of an iodoaniline and an internal alkyne has been employed in the synthesis of substituted indoles9 (Scheme 3.7). The microwave conditions were carefully optimised using a focused microwave reactor. Application of microwave heating provided clear advantages in reaction rate and yield over conventional thermal conditions. It is interesting to note that fixed microwave power input provided improved yields over constant temperature conditions (variable microwave power input). This chemistry was successfully extended to a solid-phase format (Rink amide resin)10. 

Other types of reactors, such as trickle bed or bubble (slurry) reactors, are used only in special cases for reactions of liquids with gases catalysed by solids. 

On the other hand, the oxidative coupling reaction of CH4 in the presence of O2, even when performed in membrane type reactors,188 is mainly catalysed by metal oxides catalysts.185 Also, oligomerisation, aromatisa-tion, and the partial oxidation apply non-metallic heterogeneous catalysts (such as zeolites). The reader is therefore directed to some excellent reviews on these subjects.189,190 At this point, it is perhaps relevant to introduce the formation of carbon nanofibres or nanotubes from methane, these being catalysed by metal nanoparticles, but at this moment this is not considered as a Cl chemistry reaction. Again we direct the attention of the reader to some reviews on this type of process.191 192... 

The heterogeneously-catalysed alkoxylation of a-pinene and limonene over P-zeolite provides excellent results in both a discontinuous batch reactor and a continuous flow-type apparatus with a fixed bed reactor. In both reactors, the use of methanol as addition compound and limonene as feedstock gives l-methyl-4-[a-methoxyisopropyl]-l-cyclohexene with the yield of 85% (conversion 93%, selectivity 92%). By means of variation of the reaction parameters, the limonene conversion can be adjusted within the range 40-90%. The selectivity to 1-methyl-4-[a-methoxyisopropyl]-l-cyclohexene remains always about 95%. 

A chemical reaction of an aromatic amine with a chloronitro compound went out of control due to ferric chloride catalysed side reactions when the reaction mass became acidic. Natural soda ash used as an acid acceptor in the non-aqueous system was ineffective. The exothermic side reactions developed pressures above those normally encountered in the process. Synthetic soda ash had been used for all previous batches over a 20-year period. The difference in crystallinity made the natural soda ash less effective than the synthetic type normally used and it acted like an undercharge of soda ash. This permitted an acid build-up which formed ferric chloride as the reactor was made of stainless steel. 

Contactor-type polymeric membrane reactors have been also applied to liquid-phase reactions other than hydrogenation or oxidation. The hydration of a-pinene has been carried out successfully over polymeric membranes consisting of mixed matrixes of PDMS embedded USY or beta zeolites or sulfonated activated carbon. The membranes were assembled in a flat contactor-type reactor configuration, separating the aqueous and organic phases. Sulfonated PVA membranes were also reported to be effective in the acid catalysed methanolysis of soybean oil carried out in a flat contactor-type membrane reactor configuration. ... 

An example of the use of extractor-type PlMRs in reactions other than esterification is the gas-phase decomposition of MTBE catalysed by tung-stophosphoric acid. Lee et reported the use of closed-loop recycle membrane reactors by using polycarbonate, polyarylate or cellulose acetate membranes to selectively permeate the formed methanol in a flat membrane reactor configuration, with the catalyst packed in the retentate side and by using helium as sweep gas in the permeate side. The authors also used a tube-and-shell reactor configuration with the catalyst packed in the shell side being the sweep gas fed to the tube side. 

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