(233o) Characterization of Mixing and Heat Transfer in Continuous Lab Scale Reactors

With proper design and optimization, continuous reactors can provide advantages of heat transfer, mixing, and productivity in a smaller footprint. However, batch reactors have the advantage of a flexibility, including slow or variable feed-times. Continuous plug flow reactors with a single feed point provide stoichiometric feed ratio's upfront. This places higher demand on quality of mixing and heat transfer at the point of mixing for continuous plug flow reactors especially if there are possible side reactions. Chemical systems e.g. Bourne reactions were used to assess the quality of mixing in glass Advanced Flow Reactors (AFR manufactured by Corning) to determine the quality of mixing, based on selectivity from parallel competitive reactions as a function of process flow rates. The quality of mixing is compared to lab-scale batch reactors (EasyMax manufactured by Mettler). Heat Transfer through AFR plates will independently be measured. The residence time distribution through the AFR will also be discussed. The methods described herein are generally applicable for characterizing lab-scale continuous reactors.