Sulzer katapak

Sulzer katapak-S were developed for use in reactive distillation, though their use for trickle bed operations [18, 19] and as catalyst carrier in bubble flow columns [20] has also been investigated. Like DX, these packings consist of corrugated sheets made from wire gauze. Every second channel between the corrugated sheets is closed to form a tea bag which is filled with catalyst particles (Fig. 8.13). Therefore, voidage (ca. 40 %) and surface area (440 m2 m-3) are approximately half of those for the DX. 

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The reactor internals, consisting of structured packings packed with catalyst particles, are also examples of arranged catalysts, e.g., the Sulzers Katapak-S type. 

Figure 8 (a) Schematic of an RD column filled with catalytic internals CD TECH (1—catalytic balls, 2—feed, 3—distillate, 4—bottom product, 5—sieve tray) and (b) catalytic structured packing Sulzer Katapak-S. (Part a from Ref. 52.)... 

In this section of the studies, the flow patterns of two-phase flow in the investigated packings (monoliths, Sulzer DX , and Sulzer katapak S ) are discussed. Further, the resulting residence time distribution (RTD), flooding limits, and mass transfer behavior are compared. 

FIGURE 4 Static mixer left, open cross-flow structure right, structured packed bed of catalyst particles used in catalytic distillation (Sulzer Katapak S). 

In order to evaluate the developed model and to its limitations, laboratory experiments and accompanying simulations were carried out. The laboratory runs were performed using a pressure column having a diameter of 80 mm and up to 25 bubble cap trays. The reactive zone was equipped with Sulzer Katapak-S in heights of 20-40 cm. The column set-up is shown in Fig. 3.8. The catalyst pockets of the packing were filled with the ion-exchange resin described above. The column was operated at a pressure of 500 kPa. Feed rates were set between 2 and 5 kg/h and the reflux ratio was varied in the range 5-10. The feed was introduced above the reactive section. Further experiments were performed with the feed position below the reactive section. 

Fig. 3.8. Configuration of the lab-scale reactive distillation column. The distillation section is equipped with bubble cap trays, the reactive section with Sulzer Katapak-S ([18], reprinted from Chem. Eng. Sci., Vol 57, Beckmann et at. Pages 1525-1530, Copyright 2002, with permission from Elsevier Science)...

P. Moritz, Scale-up der Reaktivdestilla-tion mit Sulzer Katapak-S, PhD Dissertation, Universitat Stuttgart, 2001. 

Sulzer, KATAPAK (product information), Sulzer Chemtech AG, 2000. 

KATAPAK Not a process but a range of catalysts and catalyst supports using the principle of static mixing. Developed by Sulzer Chemtech since 1991. Used in catalytic distillation processes. 

For the cases when efficient mixing has to be coupled with a solid-catalyzed reaction a whole family of open-crossflow-structure catalysts has been developed. The best known of them are the so-called KATAPAK s, commercialized by Sulzer. One of them, KATAPAK-M is shown in Figure 10. It has good mixing properties and can simultaneously be used as the support for catalytic material. 

In a second set of experiments, different monolith types - Sulzer DX -packings and katapak-S - were tested under varying gas flow rates in countercurrent operation. The scatter of the data points in Fig. 8.24 was caused by the slightly changing water concentrations in the organic liquid. 

The potential of structured packings as catalyst carriers for reactive stripping, film-flow-monoliths, Sulzer DX -packings, both coated with zeolite BEA, and katapak-S , filled with BEA-particles, was explored in cold-flow experiments and under reactive stripping conditions in a pilot-scale plant. 

Fig. 1. Catalytic structured packings KATAPAK -S (left) and KATAPAK -SP-11 (right) by Sulzer Chemtech Ltd.

Fig. 4 (A) Random packings (Raschig rings). (B) Structured packings, KATAPAK (Sulzer). (C) Structured packings, MULTIPAK (Sulzer).

Sulzer SMR static mixer, which has mixing elements made of heat-transfer tubes, and Sulzer s open-crossflow structure catalysts, so-called Katapaks Sulzer (www. sulzer.com) is a Swiss company active in the field of machinery and equipments ... 

Figure 3.6 Homogeneous (a) and heterogeneous (b) reactive distillation (c) structured packing (Katapak-S, from Sulzer) for reactive distillation, consisting of layers of metal wire gauze in which a catalyst is embedded and immobilized in pockets. ...

The experimental data on the pilot scale were obtained using a column 316 mm in diameter. The non-reactive stripping and rectifying sections contained wire gauze packing, while the reactive section of the column was equipped with Katapak SP-12 from Sulzer. The elements contained the same catalyst as already used in the... 

Figure 11.15 Industrial and laboratory scales of KATAPAK, Sulzer Ltd. (33). (Reproduced...

Katapak -SP (43A) is a Sulzer reactive distillation packing. It combines highly effective mass transfer device with a catalyst volume. 

Gotze L. and O. Bailer, Reactive distillation with Katapak-S, Sulzer Tech. Rev. 81, 29-31 (1999). Groening C., K. Ebel, G. Kaibel, J. Therre, J. Koopmann, H. Menig, G. Fritz, and R. Dietz, Production of methylglyoxal dimethyl acetal, Jpn. Patent 08176056 (1996). 

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