Challenge

In many industrially relevant syntheses, the time constants of the reactions are of the same order of magnitude or even shorter than the time constants for the mixing of the reactants. If several reactions take place in parallel, the local mixing processes can have a significant influence on the selectivities in the reaction system. In such cases, a special reactor design is necessary to achieve extremely fast mixing of the reactants. Reaction mixing pumps (RMPs), operating on the principle of side channel pumps, can be particularly well-suited for mixing-sensitive reactions due to their high specific power input and energy dissipation rates. Additionally, RMPs have the potential to combine mixing and transportation of the reaction media, thereby leading to process intensification. LRF is investigating the behavior of RMPs as novel reactors for mixing-sensitive reactions. 

Key Elements of the Project

• Experimental investigation of fluid dynamics behavior in single- and two-phase flows in the RMPs

• Experimental investigation of the reaction behavior of mixing-sensitive reactions in the RMPs

• Development of a fluid dynamic model to describe the internal volume flow and the characteristic curve of the RMPs

• Development of a reactor model for the pump

• Development of meso- and micro-mixing models to describe the influence of local mixing of the reactants

• Complementing classical reactor models with micromixing models to provide an innovative simulation tool for describing the behavior of fast reactions in the RMPs

• Application and testing of the simulation tool for scale-up

• Investigation of the interaction of the pump as a reactor with additional unit operations (residence tank, heat exchanger, etc.) in the chemical synthesis process