Study of the flow regime in the epsilon-caprolactam polymerisation column

This work presents an experimental study of the reaction mixture hydrodynam ics along the industrial unit for epsilon-caprolactam polymerisation by det ermining the mean residence time and dispersion criterion. The residence ti me distribution functions were obtained from radiotracer measurements. Diff erent flow types for different zones of the industrial polymerisation unit have been evidenced: plug-flow with small mixing in the reactor feeding pip e and stirred flow with flow defects (stagnant zones and short-circuits) fo r the polymerisation column. These results were used for the optimisation o f the operating regime of the epsilon-caprolactam polymerisation unit.