THE RAPTOR : AN INTENSIFIED CONTINUOUS REACTOR FOR CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS
Special Symposium - EPIC-1: European Process Intensification Conference - 1
EPIC-1: Poster Session (EPIC - Poster) - P1
Keywords: intensification, batch to continuous, reactor, hydrogenation
O. Barillon*, F. De Panthou*, S. Marie*, A. Trani*, L. Falk**, J. Jenck***
* AET AETGROUP, Les espaces du Chêne, 34 rue du 35eme R.A., F- 69500 BRON, France
** Laboratoire des Science du Génie Chimique, 1 rue Grandville BP 20 451 F-54001 Nancy Cedex, France
*** ENKI Innovation , 3 chemin des Balmes, F-69110 Sainte-Foy, France
AETDEV, an AETGROUP Company, is dedicated to development and industrialization of chemical processes based on innovative technologies. AETDEV, which is focused on process intensification and continuous fine chemistry for the benefit of their customers, has developed an intensified continuous reactor, named RAPTOR (for “Réacteur Agité Polyvalent à Transfert Optimisé Rectiligne” as Polyvalent rectilinear stirred reactor with optimized transfer). This reactor is specially suited for chemical reactions requiring extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. Among the different synthesis, one can quote liquid-liquid and gas-liquid reactions (H2, NH3, CO, CO2), catalytic reactions (heterogeneous or homogeneous), highly exothermic reactions. The extreme conditions of employment and short to moderate residence time in plug flow allow to operate reactions in very high pressure (up to 250 bars) and high temperature (up to 300 °C), reactions with unstable intermediates, or involving hazardous reagents.
This system belongs to the mini-reactors category but allows a very important productivity when the residence time required by the reaction is lower than a minute. The pilot prototype is made in hastelloy and can handle feed flowrates up to 150 l/h, with a residence time from 15s to 10 minutes. It is equipped with a stirring mobile to increase mixing and mass transfer coefficient. The heat transfer area per volume of reaction is 150 m2/m3 which is more than 30 times higher than for a stirred tank of several m3.
The present paper concerns experimental characterization of the pilot reactor. Preliminary results have been carried out to estimate the thermal performances of the reactor with a non reactive gas-liquid medium (air and water). The evolution of the global heat exchange coefficient with the process flow rate has been obtained. In a second step of the study, experiments concern characterization in a reactive medium, i.e. the hydrogenation of an aromatic cycle. The results are analyzed by a method of characteristic times and by means of the Fluent software which allows to take into account in a more complete way the complex geometry of the device.
In the case of the hydrogenation of an aromatic cycle, it is shown that the RAPTOR is capable to work in very severe conditions as the hydrogenation of a pure reagent (no solvent) giving a yield of 98 % with an adiabatic temperature increase of 925 °C.
Presented Wednesday 19, 13:30 to 14:40, in session EPIC-1 Poster Session (EPIC - Poster) - P1.
