(570b) Mass Transfer Performance of Ultrasound-Assisted Phase Transfer Catalysis in a Capillary Microreactor

In this work, the liquid-liquid catalytic phase transfer reaction between benzyl chloride with sodium sulfide was investigated in a capillary microreactor assisted by ultrasound irradiation. The mass transfer performance of the multiphase reaction was evaluated in terms of the volumetric mass transfer coefficient and was compared to other systems, namely: capillary microreactor under silent condition, batch reactor with different speeds of agitation, ultrasound-assisted batch reactor and ultrasound-assisted batch reactor with mechanical agitation.

In the batch reactor system, the volumetric mass transfer coefficient has been increased several times when mechanical agitation is accompanied with ultrasound irradiation. However, the capillary microreactor was superior to the batch reactor system under the different operational conditions.

With respect to the capillary microreactor, it was found that the mass transfer performance was enhanced under sonication conditions more profoundly than under silent conditions. Under sonication conditions, the mass transfer performance was further enhanced by increasing the aqueous-to-organic phase flow rate ratio.