Investigation of kinetics of a strongly exothermic reaction in microstructured reactors. Cyclisation of pseudoionone to β-ionone

Abstract

Microstructured reactors (MSR) are innovative reactors with the dimensions in the submillimeter range along one or two axis, where chemical transformation takes place. MSR present heat transfer coefficients one order of magnitude higher than conventional reactors and heat exchangers, leading to process intensification. In the thesis, a commercially important, rapid and highly exothermic reaction, cyclisation of pseudoionone, is considered. Due to the high exothermicity, the reaction is conventionally carried out in a semi-batch wise manner which leads to a broad residence time distribution of the products making difficult to evaluate kinetics. Therefore, a microstructured system combining reactants in the form of droplets and allowing isothermal conditions and uniform residence time is used to study the kinetics. A reliable kinetic scheme is established describing the formation of the main product and by-products in parallel and consecutive reaction networks. Finally, the reaction conditions are optimised to increase yield and selectivity.