Utilizing
CO2 to produce ethylene carbonate (EC) is
highly significant in terms of both reducing CO2 emissions
and acquiring fine chemicals. The gas–liquid mixture mass transfer
in this process is critical for transformation efficiency and safety;
however, the efficient strategy to intensify this mass transfer is
limited. In this study, a jet loop reactor (JLR) is employed for the
mass-transfer intensification of liquid–gas phases in the production
of EC from the cycloaddition of CO2 and ethylene oxide.
The effect of the JLR’s structure, mainly the size of the spray
nozzle, on mass transfer intensification is investigated to determine
the optimal working conditions. Additionally, the influence of reaction
conditions on the transformation efficiency is investigated using
in situ infrared spectroscopy, thus achieving rapid transformation
of this cycloaddition under low CO2 pressures. Notably,
the JLR exhibits an efficiency over three times higher than that of
the stirred tank reactor, demonstrating its superior advantage in
facilitating gas–liquid mixture mass transfer. Furthermore,
a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the reactor demonstrated
its working process. The well-matched experimental and simulated results
suggest the high potential of CFD in evaluating the efficiency of
the JLR, which can serve as a basis for the structural design of the
ejector.