Conventional Reactors (conventional + reactor)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Reactive extrusion to synthesize intumescent flame retardant with a solid acid as catalyst and the flame retardancy of the products in polypropylene

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, Issue 1 2008
Yuan Liu
Abstract Reactive extrusion and solid acid catalysis technologies were adopted in the pentaerythritol,melamine phosphate (PER-MP) reaction to synthesize intumescent flame retardant, melamine salt of pentaerythritol phosphate (MPP), which was applied in flame retardant polypropylene (PP). This environment-friendly synthesis method provided a solution to the problems of conventional methods. On one hand, reactive extrusion in a twin screw extruder can effectively mix and transfer viscous materials that usually results in a tough stir in a conventional reactor, and achieve a continuous synthesis process. On the other hand, the solid acid, silicotungstic acid (STA) serving as a catalyst, can maintain a satisfactory conversion even with a low extrusion temperature and a short residence time, thus effectively suppressing foaming in the process of the reaction. Furthermore, without removal like other catalysts in general chemical reactions, STA was kept in produced MPP to constitute a synergism flame retardant system, therefore further improved the flame retardancy. LOI and UL94 test showed that the STA-catalyzed MPP (by reactive extrusion) possessed much better flame retardancy in PP when compared with the noncatalyzed MPP (by reactive extrusion), as well as present commercial MPP (by POCl3 method). In our investigation, the catalytic and synergistic effects of STA, as well as the related factors of the reactive extrusion affecting the conversion of the PER-MP reaction, flame retardancy and mechanical performance of the corresponding flame retardant PP, were systematically investigated. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008 [source]


Computational study of staged membrane reactor configurations for methane steam reforming.

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010

Abstract The present work complements part I of this article and completes a computational analysis of the performances of staged membrane reactors for methane steam reforming. The influence of the number of stages and catalyst amount is investigated by comparing the methane conversion and hydrogen recovery yield achieved by an equisized-staged reactor to those of an equivalent conventional membrane reactor for different furnace temperatures and flow configurations (co- and counter-current). The most relevant result is that the proposed configuration with a sufficiently high number of stages and a significantly smaller catalyst amount (up to 70% lower) can achieve performances very close to the ones of the conventional unit in all the operating conditions considered. This is equivalent to say that the staged configuration can compensate and in fact substitute a significant part of the catalyst mass of a conventional membrane reactor. To help the interpretation of these results, stage-by-stage temperature and flux profiles are examined in detail. Then, the quantification of the performance losses with respect to the conventional reactor is carried out by evaluating the catalyst amount possibly saved and furnace temperature reduction. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010 [source]


Evaluation of porous catalytic membranes operated in pore-flow-through mode for hydrogenation of ,-methylstyrene

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2010
Daniel Urbanczyk
Abstract A study of the catalytic membrane contactor operated in pore-flow-through (PFT) mode was carried out for hydrogenation of ,-methylstyrene (AMS) to cumene over palladium as a test reaction. By applying a metalorganic chemical vapour deposition method, the catalyst was deposited as nanoparticles on the pore walls of porous alumina capillaries. Experiments were performed with up to six individual Pd-activated capillaries in a laboratory-scale reactor set-up and with capillary bundles in a small pilot plant. The influence of the operating parameters on the reactor performance such as temperature (303,333 K), hydrogen pressure (5,10 bar), transmembrane flux (up to 200 l·m,2·min,1), pore size of the capillaries (0.6,3.0 µm) and concentration of AMS in n-heptane used as solvent was investigated. Moreover, the performance of the PFT-system was compared to that of conventional reactors (e.g. fixed bed, trickle bed, bubble column, stirred tank) and novel reactor designs (catalytic membrane contactor in diffuser mode, monolith reactor) based on published data. It is shown that the PFT principle enables very high activity, comparable with a suspended powder catalyst in a stirred tank reactor and, at the same time, an excellent space time yield. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Catalysis in polymeric membrane reactors: the membrane role

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2010
M.G. Buonomenna
Abstract Polymeric catalytic membrane reactors (PCMRs) combine a polymeric membrane that controls transfers and a catalyst that provides conversion. This review focuses on the polymeric membrane. Depending on the application, the micro-environment of the catalyst in the PCMR may be quite different from that existing in conventional reactors. This could originate different performances of the catalyst properties compared to its use without membrane. In some cases, catalysts for use in PCMR might require a specific design. In particular, the study of PCMR is a multidisciplinary activity, including material science, chemistry, and chemical engineering. Membrane based reactive separation processes, which combine two distinct functions, i.e. reaction and separation, have been around as a concept since the early stages of the membrane field itself, but have only attracted substantial technical interest during the last decade or so. Liquid phase catalytic oxidations are involved in numerous industrial processes ranging from fine to bulk chemical synthesis. PCMR polymeric membranes may also play a significant role in this field. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Production of hydrogen via glycerol steam reforming in a Pd-Ag membrane reactor over Co-Al2O3 catalyst

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2010
A. Iulianelli
Abstract Generally, biodiesel fuel, when converted from vegetables oils, produces around 10 wt% of glycerol as a byproduct, which could be used for producing hydrogen by a steam-reforming reaction. Different scientific works have been realized in conventional reactors on the steam reforming of glycerol (GSR) in the aqueous or the gas phase. High reaction pressure and a relatively small catalyst deactivation are noticed when GSR is carried out in an aqueous phase, whereas the catalyst deactivation is the main disadvantage in the gas phase. In this work, GSR reaction was performed in a perm-selective Pd-Ag membrane reactor (MR) packed with a Co-Al2O3 commercial catalyst in order to extract a CO-free hydrogen stream and also enhance the performances in terms of glycerol conversion and hydrogen yield with respect to a traditional reactor (TR), both working at weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) = 1.01 h,1, 400 °C and H2O/C3H8O3 = 6/1. In MR, a maximum glycerol conversion of around 45.0% was achieved at 1.0 bar as reaction pressure, whereas it was around 94% at 4.0 bar. Moreover, as best value, more than 60.0% of CO-free hydrogen recovery was achieved in the MR at 4.0 bar and 22.8 of sweep factor (sweep gas to glycerol ratio). Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]