New Equipment for Laboratory Studies of Heterogeneously Catalyzed Reactive Distillation

Abstract

In this paper, novel equipment for laboratory studies of heterogeneously catalyzed reactive distillation is described. The so called D+R tray equipment consists of a combination of conventional bubble cap trays with sections that are filled with catalyst and through which the liquid flows when it passes from one distillation tray down to the next. It is designed so that the catalyst can be easily changed, and its amount can be flexibly chosen. In the present study, D+R tray equipment built in glass in the 50 mm diameter scale was investigated. The pressure drop is only slightly higher than that of a standard distillation tray alone and it allows the same fluid dynamic capacity. In order to characterize the properties of the equipment as a reactor, residence time distribution (RTD) measurements were carried out. For this purpose, the equipment was modified so that only the reactive section could be studied. Still, the RTD of the catalytic bed cannot be investigated directly. It was therefore determined based on accompanying computational fluid dynamics simulations. The RTD of the catalytic bed can be described well by a simple dispersion model with a Bodenstein number of 60-65, showing that it basically has plug flow characteristics.

Study of heterogeneously catalysed reactive distillation using the D+R tray—A novel type of laboratory equipment

“…Recently, novel equipment for heterogeneously catalysed reactive distillation, the D+R tray, has been introduced by Schmitt et al (2009). The present work reports results of measurements of the separation capacity of D+R trays.…”

“…It was shown that the catalyst bed in the D+R tray has basically plug-flow characteristics (Schmitt et al, 2009). In the present work, the D+R tray is characterised as a distillation tray by measurements of the separation efficiency.…”

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a b s t r a c tRecently, novel equipment for heterogeneously catalysed reactive distillation, the D+R tray, has been introduced by Schmitt et al (2009). The present work reports results of measurements of the separation capacity of D+R trays.

Furthermore, results of reactive distillation experiments on two test systems are presented that show that the D+R tray can be used routinely for laboratory studies of heterogeneously catalysed reactive distillation.

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“…The novel equipment is designed so that the catalyst can be easily changed and its amount can be flexibly chosen. The D+R tray was presented in detail by Schmitt et al (2009).…”

Reactive Distillation

“…In this context, a new piece of equipment, the so-called D þ R tray, was developed by BASF SE [94]. The D þ R tray consists of a combination of conventional bubble cap trays with sections that are filled with catalyst pellets and through which the liquid flows when it passes from one distillation tray down to the next [95].…”