Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting – deodorizing – preser – Chemical reactor – Including heat exchanger for reaction chamber or reactants...
Patent
1997-09-29
1999-06-15
McMahon, Timothy
Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting, deodorizing, preser
Chemical reactor
Including heat exchanger for reaction chamber or reactants...
422202, B01J 806
Patent
active
059119586
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Multitube falling film reactors represent today a well established technology, and is frequently the preferred reactorprinciple for sulphonation and sulphation reactions, both giving advanced products; surfactants for the cosmetic and detergent industry. The reactors are assembled according to conventional principles for a multitube shell and tube heat-exchanger with different baffle-arrangements and cooling liquids, with water as the dominating cooling liquid. Typical for all reactors are separate chambers for diluted gas, organic compound, cooling liquid and collection of finished products, chambers mentioned from top of reactor to bottom outlet.
When producing surfactants for the said industry, the gaseous and diluted reactant is sulfur trioxide, typical organic compounds are liquids at 15.degree. C. or higher, the main variety of raw-material being alkylates, fatty alcohols, etoxilated fatty alcohols, alpha-olefins and methyl-esters. Any chemical compound equipped with a socalled flexible hydrogen atom might be sulphonated or sulphated. (Sulphated for all compounds where hydrogen is linked to an oxygen atom, sulphonated for the linkage hydrogen-carbon.)
The overall chemical reactions taking place, are characterized by the fact that diluted, gaseous SO.sub.3 is a very aggressive/reactive reactant, and that the reactions are all extremely rapid and exothermic. Altogether, these properties challenge the control of the molar ratio between the reactants, and only with the very best control of both total and local molar ratio, the best products are achieved. Any deviation in the molar ratio will unavoidably result in increased quantity of undesired by-products, and the main product will suffer from bad colour, lower active matter content, higher content of sulphates, higher content of nonsulphated/-sulphonated organic compounds and consequently lower yield with a higher raw-material consumption. In a MTR, where the numbers of individual and parallel reactor-element could be from two to more than hundred, the most important parameter is the local molar ratio between the reactants, and therefore the best possible and most homogeneous distribution of organic compound to each individual reactor-element. Even the smallest deviation in local molar ratio, can not be fully compensated for later in the process.
To avoid any misunderstanding, total molar ratio is defined as the ratio between the total number of moles SO.sub.3 fed to the reactor divided by the total number of moles organic compound fed to the same reactor. By advanced dosing system for liquid sulfur/liquid sulfur dioxide/liquid sulfur trioxide and finally organic compounds, the total molar ratio can be kept almost constant and without any significant impact on the final product properties.
The local molar ratio, defined the same way but between local flows of said reactants for each individual nozzle-element, is predominantly depending on an even and homogeneous feed, kg/hour of organic reactant to each individual nozzle-set from one common, organic chamber, since a gas carrying a far lower viscosity has a higher tendency of even distribution according to the principle of "the way of lowest resistance". The nozzle-set construction will therefore appear as the decisive and critical element for individual organic flow and local molar ratio. In a MTR, all the nozzle-sets are fed from one common, organic chamber. The nozzle-construction also allows a reactor to consist of only one reactor element, where the total molar ratio becomes equal and identical to the local molar ratio, accuracy only depending on the external dosing system.
Of great and vital importance is also an even and homogeneous distribution of the organic film formed circumferentially on the internal, surface of the female part. This can be achieved, provided that the film distribution/formation on the internal surface of the said female part is determined by the same accuracy as the dosing/metering of organic compounds of the nozzle-set for all reactor elements.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4886089 (1989-12-01), Gabrlik et al.
patent: 5445801 (1995-08-01), Pisoni
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