DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTINUOUS CATALYTIC HETEROGENEOUS COLUMN REACTOR WITH SIMULTANEOUS EXTRACTION OF AN INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT BY AN ORGANIC-SOLVENT CIRCULATING IN COUNTERCURRENT MANNER WITH THE AQUEOUS-PHASE
P. Rivalier et al., DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTINUOUS CATALYTIC HETEROGENEOUS COLUMN REACTOR WITH SIMULTANEOUS EXTRACTION OF AN INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT BY AN ORGANIC-SOLVENT CIRCULATING IN COUNTERCURRENT MANNER WITH THE AQUEOUS-PHASE, Catalysis today, 24(1-2), 1995, pp. 165-171
A new solid-liquid-liquid reactor has been developed in order to simul
taneously benefit from the advantages of both the catalytic activity a
nd molecular sieve properties of the zeolites, the superior performanc
es of concentration gradient reactors for positive order consecutive c
hemical reactions and the extraction of an intermediate target product
by a solvent with countercurrent flows. The first reaction experiment
ed with, was the acido-catalyzed dehydration of the hexoses into 5-hyd
roxymethylfurfural. The study was divided in two parts: (1) laboratory
tests in a 0.3-liter batch reactor where mordenites were found to be
the most selective catalysts, (2) chemical engineering studies: first,
hydrodynamic tests where the systems tested ([water . hexose . zeolit
e]-methylisobutylketone) enable large through-put capacities, second,
chemical tests in a stainless steel pulsed column of 25 mm in diameter
and 8220 mm in height. Simultaneously, same simulations have been exe
cuted on a software designed by CEA for liquid-liquid extractions and
modified by introducing chemical reactions.