Hj. Glatzer et al., TRIPHASE CATALYSIS - A NEW ROTATING-DISK CONTACTOR FOR MEASURING MASS-TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS, Chemical Engineering Science, 53(13), 1998, pp. 2431
Triphase catalysis (TPC) is a practically attractive way of carrying o
ut phase transfer catalyzed reactions. The analysis of triphase cataly
tic systems requires a knowledge of mass transfer coefficients, but no
correlations for estimating these are available. Therefore, a new rot
ating disk contactor (RDC) for measuring the external mass transfer co
efficients of TPC systems has been designed and operated. Details of t
he design and construction of the contactor are discussed. In order to
test the apparatus, experiments were carried out on a test system: sy
nthesis of benzyl acetate from benzyl chloride and sodium acetate with
polymer supported tributylmethylammonium chloride as the immobilized
phase transfer catalyst. This reaction was found to be mass transfer c
ontrolled at low agitation speeds, and it was therefore possible to de
termine the external mass transfer coefficient as a function of the bu
lk agitation speed. The values ranged from 1.4 x 10(-3) to 2.0 x 10(-3
) cm/min. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.