Apparatuses for polymerizing or devolatilizing a composition, especially one of high melt viscosity, are disclosed. Methods of polymerizing and devolatilizing a composition, especially one of high melt viscosity, are also disclosed.

The current disclosure relates to an apparatus and a process for producing poly-?-olefins (PAO), including reacting olefin monomers in a presence of a catalyst complex to form PAO product. The reaction is performed in a reaction including a reactor vessel and a system for recycling and cooling part of reactor outlet stream. At least one reactor is a cone reactor with a first cross sectional area in an upper part of the vessel and the cross sectional area decreases downwards to a second cross sectional area, which is smaller than the first cross sectional area.

A reactor tank is provided having an enzyme inlet, a heating jacket positioned around the exterior center of the tank, a gas outlet for communicating with a vacuum apparatus to create a vacuum within the reactor tank and for communicating with a condensing unit, a first gas inlet for receiving gas from a feed tank and a first liquid outlet for recirculating the liquid from the first liquid outlet back to the feed tank. The reactor tank further includes a sparged unit and a screen positioned within the tank between the sparged unit and the first liquid outlet, where the sparged unit is connected to the first gas inlet for receiving gas from the feed tank. The reactor tank is utilized in a reactor system further including a condensing unit, vacuum pump or venturi valve, a first feed tank connected to the first gas inlet, a coalescer having at least one circulation pipe and a first circulation pump connected to the first liquid outlet for circulating a portion of the liquid dispelled from the liquid outlet to the coalescer, which after being filtered through coalescer is recirculated through circulation pipe back to the first feed tank.

A continuous chemical reactor may include a primary reaction unit and at least one secondary reaction unit. The primary reaction unit has a stirring device and a first temperature regulating device, and a feed inlet provided at an upper portion thereof. The secondary reaction unit is sleeved outside the primary reaction unit, and a reaction chamber is formed therebetween. By adding reaction materials to the primary reaction unit via the feed inlet and adjusting the temperature of the reaction materials by the first temperature regulating device, the reacted materials enter the reaction chamber, and the heat generated in the reaction chamber can be used to adjust the temperature of the materials in the primary reaction unit to more effectively use the heat, and the product after reaction can be discharged from a discharge hole at the lower end of the secondary reaction unit, thereby achieving continuous production.

A method of manufacture of high-solids hydroxide slurries from caustic calcined carbonate powder is described, whereby the properties of the slurry are its low resistance to shear thinning to facilitate transport, a high stability for transport and storage, ease of reconstitution after long periods of storage, and, as required, a high concentration of chemically reactive species at the particle surface. The method achieves these specifications by mixing caustic calcined carbonate or hydroxide powder with water in an insulated reactor vessel, and agitating the slurry sufficiently such that the hydration reaction causes the water to spontaneously boil, such that the remaining hydration proceeds spontaneously under the fixed conditions of boiling through the water loss. The mixing process is preferably carried out by a shear pump. A viscosity modifier, such as acetic acid, is used to thin the slurry to enable the mixing system to maintain uniform mixing. The reaction is terminated when the boiling has spontaneously ceased and the temperature has spontaneously dropped to a set point though the reactor heat losses, where the processing time is sufficiently long that the slurry meets the desired specifications.

A method of manufacture of high-solids hydroxide slurries from caustic calcined carbonate powder is described, whereby the properties of the slurry are its low resistance to shear thinning to facilitate transport, a high stability for transport and storage, ease of reconstitution after long periods of storage, and, as required, a high concentration of chemically reactive species at the particle surface. The method achieves these specifications by mixing caustic calcined carbonate or hydroxide powder with water in an insulated reactor vessel, and agitating the slurry sufficiently such that the hydration reaction causes the water to spontaneously boil, such that the remaining hydration proceeds spontaneously under the fixed conditions of boiling through the water loss. The mixing process is preferably carried out by a shear pump. A viscosity modifier, such as acetic acid, is used to thin the slurry to enable the mixing system to maintain uniform mixing. The reaction is terminated when the boiling has spontaneously ceased and the temperature has spontaneously dropped to a set point though the reactor heat losses, where the processing time is sufficiently long that the slurry meets the desired specifications.

Provided is a system and a method for preparing ultrafine silica by leaching silicate ore using hydrogen chloride gas, comprising an ore raw material feeding device, an ejector, a stirring tank and a liquid-solid separation device. A circulated material outlet of a stirred tank is connected with a liquid inlet of an ejector through a circulation pipe; a liquid outlet of the ejector is connected with a circulated material inlet of the stirred tank; a material outlet of a raw ore feeding apparatus is connected with the circulation pipe; and the circulated material outlet of the stirred tank is connected with a solid-liquid separation apparatus. Based on the system and method in the present disclosure, an industrially feasible solution for preparing silica by continuously leaching a silicate ore is provided. The dissolution efficiency of ores and the utilization of hydrochloric acid are greatly increased.

Devices and methods for controlling the properties of chemical species during time-dependent processes. A device includes a reactor for containing one or more chemical species of a time-dependent process, an extraction pump for automatically and continuously extracting an amount of the one or more chemical species from the reactor, one or more detectors for measuring property changes of the one or more extracted chemical species and generating a continuous stream of data related to the one or more property changes to the one or more chemical species during a time interval, and a process controller configured to fit the continuous stream of data to a mathematical function to predict one or more properties of the one or more chemical species at a future time point and make one or more process decisions based on the prediction of one or more properties at the future time point.

The invention provides a continuous process for the preparation of ethylene glycol and 1, 2-propylene glycol from starting material comprising one or more saccharides, said process being carried out in a reactor system comprising a reactor vessel equipped with an external recycle loop and said process comprising the steps of: i) providing the starting material in a solvent, via an inlet, to the external recycle loop and contacting it therein with a retro-aldol catalyst composition to provide an intermediate stream; ii) then contacting said intermediate stream with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst composition in the reactor vessel; iii) withdrawing a product stream comprising glycols from the reactor vessel; iv) providing a portion of said product stream, via an outlet, for separation and purification of the glycols contained therein; and v) recycling the remainder of said product stream via the external recycle loop.

Various embodiments may include a reactor comprising: a reaction chamber having a lower region defining a sorbent collection zone; a first feed device supplying reactants to the reaction chamber; a second feed device supplying a liquid sorbent to the reaction chamber; a discharge device connected to the sorbent collection zone for removing sorbent from the sorbent collection zone; and a cooling device for cooling the sorbent in the reaction chamber.