Title:
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Design of a radiofrequency heated micro trickle bed reactor for fine chemical synthesis
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Multi phase catalytic reactions such as hydrogenations, oxidations etc. are frequently encountered in
the pharma and fine chemical industries. Multiphase reactor systems generally used in such processes
were targeted for improvement in this research. This research project begins by analysing the benefits
of process intensification by scaling down of conventional reactor systems. A brief survey on different
microreactor technologies were carried out in the first chapter, which was then followed by chapter 2,
describing different experimental methods adopted in this research. In the first part of the research,
multi phase microreactor in the form of a micro-trick1e bed was designed. The reactor was heated from
inside out by coupling it with the phenomenon of non-contact induction heating.
Such reactor design was further extended in the second part of the research to create dual isothermal
temperature zones inside a single reactor, where two different catalyst beds were placed in a cascade
configuration. This led to the realization of a novel catalyst and temperature compartmentalized reactor
system. Cascade catalytic reaction of citronellal to menthol was chosen as a model reaction.
The high heat transfer rates obtained in the radio-frequency heated micro trickle bed reactor was
further exploited in generating periodic temperature oscillations of the catalyst bed and this led to the
design of a transient reactor system. It was observed that selectivity toward the semi-hydrogenated
product increases around 10 to 12% for periodic temperature oscillation of the reactor bed when
compared with the reactor maintained at a steady temperature.
Finally the existing design of the micro-trickle bed reactor (MTBR) was scaled-up to a six times scale
up factor. The selective hydrogenation of acetylene alcohol was chosen as a model reaction for testing
the reactor performance. A conceptual design of a pilot plant, involving such scaled-up MTBRs for a
target production of 1 kg/day was also proposed.
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