Aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol in a slug flow microreactor: Influence of liquid film wetting on mass transfer

Arne Hommes, Bas Disselhorst, Jun Yue*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)
204 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Homogeneous Co/Mn/Br catalyzed aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol in acetic acid to benzaldehyde was performed in polytetrafluoroethylene microreactors operated under slug flow at temperatures up to 150°C and pressures up to 5 bar. Depending on the bubble velocity and length, a wetted or dewetted slug flow was observed, characterized typically by a complete or partially wetting liquid film around the bubble body. The latter flow suffered from a limited interfacial area for mass transfer. Experiments at temperatures up to ca. 90°C were under kinetic control given no product yield difference under wetted and dewetted slug flows and were used to establish a simplified kinetic expression (first order in benzyl alcohol and zero order in oxygen). This allows to develop a mass transfer model combined with an instantaneous reaction regime that well described the experimental results at higher temperatures where mass transfer was limiting in the dewetted slug flow.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere17005
Number of pages14
JournalAIChE Journal
Volume66
Issue number11
Early online date21-Aug-2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19-Oct-2020

Keywords

  • benzyl alcohol oxidation
  • mass transfer
  • microreactor
  • slug flow
  • wettability
  • P-XYLENE OXIDATION
  • GAS-LIQUID
  • 2-PHASE FLOW
  • ACETIC-ACID
  • 2,5-FURANDICARBOXYLIC ACID
  • CATALYZED OXIDATION
  • TEREPHTHALIC ACID
  • PHASE OXIDATION
  • PRESSURE-DROP
  • AIR-OXIDATION

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol in a slug flow microreactor: Influence of liquid film wetting on mass transfer'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this