Issue 7, 2019

Mesoscale triphasic flow reactors for metal catalyzed gas–liquid reactions

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate a mesoscale triphasic (gas–liquid–liquid) reactor for fast, transition metal catalyzed gas–liquid reactions, which is capable of delivering kg per day productivity at the single channel level. More generally, our study addresses the limits of scale up of multiphase flow reactors beyond the micro- and milli-scale. We first conduct a rigorous hydrodynamic study that allows us to explore the channel dimension and reactor operating conditions within which a stable and regular flow regime can be maintained. We particularly focus on the presence of the organic phase as a thin film around the train of dispersed phase segments, since this plays a key role in process intensification and flow stability. A tube diameter of 3.2 mm is found to be the upper limit for the mesoscale channel, beyond which thin films cease to exist due to combination of gravitational drainage and dewetting. Next, we present experimental observations of a model reaction – the hydrogenation of 1-hexene in the presence of a rhodium nanoparticle catalyst (RhNP) to evaluate the reactor performance and highlight the key differences between micro/milli-scale and mesoscale operation. Finally, we develop and discuss a mathematical model that accurately captures the key experimental observations. Based on the insight we gain from our model, we demonstrate further scale up of the reactor to achieve the performance of >100× equivalent milliscale flow reactors with a single mesoscale channel under ambient conditions.

Graphical abstract: Mesoscale triphasic flow reactors for metal catalyzed gas–liquid reactions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Apr. 2019
Accepted
03 Jūn. 2019
First published
11 Jūn. 2019

React. Chem. Eng., 2019,4, 1331-1340

Mesoscale triphasic flow reactors for metal catalyzed gas–liquid reactions

D. Karan and S. A. Khan, React. Chem. Eng., 2019, 4, 1331 DOI: 10.1039/C9RE00150F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements