ON THE PRINCIPLES OF MODELING OF HOMOGENEOUS-HETEROGENEOUS REACTIONS IN THE PRODUCTION OF FINE CHEMICALS - A CASE-STUDY - REDUCTIVE ALKYLATION OF AROMATIC-AMINES

A kinetic model for the reductive alkylation of aromatic amines, which implies a combination of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions, was developed. The kinetic model was combined with a reactor model for a semibatch reactor, traditionally used for the reductive alkylation on both laboratory and industrial scale. The system was modelled as a thr ee-phase system, with mass-transfer limitations at the gas-liquid inte rface. The mass-transfer resistances at the outer surface of the catal yst and inside the catalyst were considered to be negligible, since ve ry finely dispersed catalyst particles were used. The kinetic paramete rs were determined for a system containing an aromatic amine with one alkyl substituent and an aldehyde. The results revealed that it is pos sible to describe this kind of complex reaction system with very few p arameters.