EP-4735158-A2 - REACTOR, PLANT AND PROCESS FOR SYNTHESIS OF PRODUCTS BY STRONGLY EXOTHERMIC REACTIONS

EP4735158A2EP 4735158 A2EP4735158 A2EP 4735158A2EP-4735158-A2

Abstract

Reactor for performing a synthesis process for producing products from at least two reactants comprising a main body having a longitudinal axis, an inflow side and an outflow side; an interior; at least two reactant conduits, each connected at the inflow side to at least one distributor channel; at least one product conduit connected at the outflow side to the at least one collection channel; at least one distribution section comprising at least two distributor channels and at least one flow splitter; at least one mixing section in which via mixing channels at least two distributor channels are connected and at least two reactants are combinable; at least one reaction channel; at least one collection section comprising at least one collection channel; at least one inflow-side feed conduit for a heat transfer medium into the interior and at least one discharge conduit for the heat transfer medium out of the interior, wherein the heat transfer medium can flow around at least a partial length of the at least one reaction channel in the interior and/or at least one heat exchange channel in which the heat transfer medium can flow is provided, wherein this at least one subsection is arranged adjacent to the at least one reaction channel and wherein at least one heat exchange channel and at least one reaction channel are separated from one another by a common channel wall, wherein the at least one reaction channel is a multiple helix which comprises two or more helix channels, wherein at the inflow side each helix channel of a multiple helix is connected via the at least one mixing section to at least one distributor channel of each of the at least two reactants and wherein at the outflow side each helix channel of a multiple helix is connected to at least one collection channel.

Inventors

SCHUBERT, FRANK
KNOTT, WILFRIED
SCHMITT, DANIEL
GRIMMELT, Frank
BÜNING, Ruben
BÜLOW, Fabian
SCHAACK, SENADA
ADAM, DANIEL
DO, GIANG

Assignees

Evonik Operations GmbH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240626

Claims (20)

1 . Reactor (100) for performing a synthesis process for producing products from at least two reactants comprising a. a main body having a longitudinal axis (104), an inflow side (106) and an outflow side (108); b. an interior (110); c. at least two reactant conduits (119, 120), each connected at the inflow side to at least one distributor channel (112, 116); d. at least one product conduit (130) connected at the outflow side to the at least one collection channel (116); e. at least one distribution section (134) comprising at least two distributor channels (112, 116) and at least one flow splitter (122); f. at least one mixing section (127) in which via mixing channels (128) at least two distributor channels (112, 116) are connected and at least two reactants are combinable; g. at least one reaction section (135) comprising at least one reaction channel (200, 202); h. at least one collection section comprising at least one collection channel (116); i. at least one inflow-side feed conduit (140) for a heat transfer medium into the interior (110) and at least one discharge conduit (142) for the heat transfer medium out of the interior (110), wherein - the heat transfer medium can flow around at least a partial length of the at least one reaction channel (200, 202) in the interior (110) and/or - at least one heat exchange channel in which the heat transfer medium can flow is provided, wherein this at least one subsection is arranged adjacent to the at least one reaction channel (200, 202) and wherein at least one heat exchange channel (147) and at least one reaction channel (200, 202) are separated from one another by a common channel wall, characterized in that the at least one reaction channel (200, 202) is a multiple helix which comprises two or more helix channels (210, 212), wherein at the inflow side each helix channel (210, 212) of a multiple helix is connected via the at least one mixing section (127) to at least one distributor channel (112, 114) of each of the at least two reactants and wherein at the outflow side each helix channel (210, 212) of a multiple helix is connected to at least one collection channel (116).
2. Reactor according to Claim 1 , characterized in that said reactor comprises two or more reaction channels (200, 202) as a multiple helix, wherein an outer multiple helix of an outer reaction channel (200) concentrically encompasses at least an inner multiple helix of an inner reaction channel (202) and wherein each reactant conduit (119, 120) is directly or indirectly connected to each multiple helix.
3. Reactor according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the inflow side of each reaction channel (200, 202) configured as a multiple helix is connected to a dedicated distributor channel (112, 114, 129) and/or mixing section (127).
4. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that at least one further distributor channel (129) and/or an inlet into each helix channel (210, 212) is arranged downstream of the at least one inflow-side distributor channel (112, 114) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (104).
5. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that the outflow-side collection channel (116) is connected to an outlet throttle and/or outlet nozzle and/or comprises said throttle and/or nozzle.
6. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that the smallest width of the cross-sectional area (A) of the helix channel (210, 212) is 0.8 mm to 3 mm, ideally 0.8 mm to 2 mm.
7. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that the cross-sectional area (A) in the helix channel (210, 212) has an elliptical, oval or at least approximately rectangular basic structure, wherein advantageously the ratio of the smallest width (B) to the largest length (H) of the cross-sectional area is not less than 0.5, ideally in the range from 0.2 to 0.06.
8. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that at least one sensor holder (152) for accommodating and/or securing a sensor (150) is provided, wherein the sensor holder (152) comprises a sensor pier (154) which is connected at one end to a helix channel (210, 212) in the interior (110) and passes through the interior (110) and through the reactor wall of the main body (102) and wherein outside the main body (102) an accommodated and/or secured sensor (150) is connectable in a data-conducting manner to a data receiver.
9. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that every reaction channel (200) or one helix channel (210, 212) of each reaction channel (200) has a sensor pier (154) of a sensor holder (152) leading to it, in particular a plurality of sensor piers (154) are arranged in the direction of the longitudinal axis (104).
10. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that each individual helix channel (210, 212) has at least one sensor pier (154) leading to it, in particular a helix channel (210, 212) of every reaction channel (200, 212) has at least two sensor piers (154) leading to it.
11 . Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that the interior (110) comprises at least two separate heat exchange spaces or channels (144) and/or groups of heat exchange channels which are fluidically and spatially separated from one another by at least one separating element (146) and/or section of the interior (110), wherein each heat exchange space or channel (144, 146) has at least one feed conduit (140) and one discharge conduit (142), wherein each heat exchange space or channel (144, 146) is operable with a different heat transfer medium and/or at its own temperature level.
12. Reactor according to Claim 11 , characterized in that the separating element (146) comprises an insulation layer and/or is at least partially manufactured from a thermally insulating material.
13. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that the main body has a protective housing arranged around it.
14. Reactor according to Claim 13, characterized in that the protective housing comprises an extraction, a filter unit and/or an absorption unit and/or is connectable thereto.
15. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that downstream of the at least one inflow-side distributor channel (119, 120) in the direction of the longitudinal axis at least one helix channel (210) of a first reaction channel (200) is combined with at least one helix channel (212) of another reaction channel (202), especially each of the helix channels (210) of the first reaction channel (200) are combined with a respective different helix channel (212) of another reaction channel (202).
16. Reactor according to any of the preceding apparatus claims, characterized in that downstream of the at least one inflow-side distributor channel (119, 120) in the direction of the longitudinal axis the helix channels (210, 210) of at least two reaction channels (200, 202) are passed via a collection unit (132) into a common reaction tube (300), in particular a common reaction tube (300) dimensioned such that the residence time of the reaction mixture in the reaction tube (300) - corresponds to at least 50% of the total reaction duration, in particular - corresponds to at least 75% of the total reaction duration.
17. Plant (500) for performing a synthesis process for producing products from at least two reactants, in particular with a strongly exothermic reaction of liquid reactants, comprising at least one reactor (100), characterized in that the at least one reactor (100) is configured according to any of Claims 1 to 16.
18. Plant (500) according to Claim 17, characterized in that it comprises at least two parallel reactors (100) configured according to any of Claims 1 to 16.
19. Plant according to either of Claims 17 or 18, characterized in that the at least two reactors (100) are connected at the outflow side to at least one common reaction tube (300), in particular to a common reaction tube (300) which is dimensioned such that the residence time of the reaction mixture - corresponds to at least 50% of the total reaction duration, in particular - corresponds to at least 75% of the total reaction duration.
20. Plant according to any of Claims 17 to 19, characterized in that downstream of the at least one reactor (100) the product conduit (130) is connected to a degassing unit, wherein the degassing unit comprises the following: - the product conduit (130) as a feed conduit, - a first discharge conduit (402) for the product and/or a substance mixture containing the product and - a gas discharge conduit (404) for volatile substances, wherein the degassing unit is configured such that the pressure (p2) at least in a section within the degassing unit is not more than 2 bar, preferably not more than 1 bar, especially a vacuum of up to 0.5 bar.

Description

Reactor, plant and process for synthesis of products by strongly exothermic reactions The present invention relates to a reactor and to a process for producing products in a strongly exothermic reaction of two or more reactants and to a production process for the reactor using a computer-implemented process and an additive manufacturing process. A strongly exothermic reaction is, for example, an alkoxylation in which a chain initiator (reactant 2) is catalytically reacted with at least one alkylene oxide (reactant 1) to afford an alkoxylate. Suitable chain initiators include compounds (reactant 2) having a reactive hydrogen atom such as for example alcohols, fatty alcohols, phenol, alkyl phenols, amines, carboxylic acids and esters thereof, mercaptans and imidazolines. Alkylene oxides (reactant 1) employed especially include ethylene oxide (EO) and propylene oxide (PO) and also 1 -butylene oxide (BO) and styrene oxide (SO). Alkoxylation with ethylene oxide is also known as ethoxylation. Repeated ethoxylation of fatty alcohols affords fatty alcohol polyethylene glycol ethers, which have a very wide variety of applications, including as surfactants and emulsifiers. Ethoxylation of fatty alcohols is therefore carried out industrially. In industry, alkoxylation is carried out both in a batch process and continuously. In a batch process a limited batch quantity of substrate, alkylene oxide and catalyst is initially charged in a reaction vessel and the reaction performed therein. After completion of the reaction the alkoxylate is withdrawn from the reaction vessel. The batch process mode is especially employed in the production of small quantities (specialty chemicals). For larger amounts, continuous operating modes are employed where the reactants are continuously introduced into a reactor, reacted therein and the product is continuously withdrawn. The so-called continuous reactor thus employs a continuous flow process. In the production approach of microreaction technology in specialty chemicals, the reactants are likewise reacted continuously but with markedly lower mass flows so that smaller product quantities are ultimately produced than in classical continuous processes. The advantage of microreaction technology is a higher process intensity, which enables better controllability of the reaction, promises higher energy efficiency and requires less installation space for the equipment. In particular, microreaction technology allows better heat removal compared to batch processes since the same amount of substance is reacted in a small reaction space spread over a longer period. By contrast, batch processes comprise reacting the same amount of substance in a large reaction space in a short time so that the heat of reaction must be removed from the reaction space over long distances. This always carries the risk of thermal hotspots inside the batch reactor, which favour the formation of unwanted byproducts. By contrast, the better thermal management of microreaction technology avoids hotspots so that unwanted side reactions are suppressed and a better product quality is ultimately obtained. An introduction to microreaction technology is provided in: Ehrfeld, W., Hessel, V., Lowe, H.: Microreactors: New Technology for Modern Chemistry, published online 29 April 2004, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, DCI:10.1002/3527601953. US 2006/045828A1 discloses a reactor having a plurality of reaction zones containing a catalyst for catalytic conversion of a feed stream. This produces a product stream, wherein each reaction zone is formed by a multiplicity of spiral-shaped reaction tubes in coaxial arrangement which have a compact, coil-like structure, wherein the reactor is proposed especially for the catalytic reaction of a methane steam reforming. The plurality of heat exchanger tubes connects the reaction tubes of the different reaction zones, wherein these have a spiral-shaped configuration. EP2603543B1 discloses a microreaction process for production of polyether alcohols. EP 3 603 795 A1 discloses a reactor for continuous reaction of two reactants. This document suggests introducing a second reactant from a second channel via apertures spaced apart from one another into a reaction channel which is traversed by a first reactant and is arranged in the reactor interior in a self-supporting manner and can have a cooling medium flow around it in order to form a reaction mixture. The channels and in particular the reaction channel are simultaneously subjected to a flow of a cooling medium flowing around them. The disadvantage of this reactor and the reaction associated therewith is that the throughput performance is severely limited and the reaction in the reaction sector is controllable only with difficulty, if at all. The latter has an adverse effect on the product. It is accordingly the object of this invention to provide a reactor and an accompanying manufacturing process which largely overcome the recited disadvantages. The o