TUBULAR REACTOR WITH MIXING MEANS

Abstract

A process and apparatus wherein a process material comprising two or more distinct phases are fed continuously to a tubular reactor containing an agitator wherein as the phases flow along the reactor the agitator displaces at least part of a first phase from its natural position to within a second phase where it is distributed within the second phase by the agitator and the agitator is designed to allow the first phase that is distributed within the second phase to flow naturally back towards its natural distinct position within the reactor as the phases pass through the reactor, useful for mixing and/or reacting liquid/liquid; gas/gas and liquid/gas mixtures as well as solid liquid mixtures.

Claims

1. A process wherein a process material comprising two or more distinct phases are fed continuously to a tubular reactor containing an agitator, wherein as the phases flow along the reactor, the agitator displaces at least part of a first phase from its distinct position to within a second phase where it is distributed within the second phase by the agitator, and the agitator is designed to allow the first phase that is distributed within the second phase to flow naturally back towards its original distinct position within the reactor as the phases pass through the reactor.

2. The process according to claim 1, in which apertures, through holes, or slots are provided in the agitator which allow gases, liquids, and/or solids to pass through the agitator in a radial plane of the reactor.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein components of the phases are broken down by the agitator into smaller conglomerations thus increasing the mass transfer and mixing between the phases.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein at a tipping point of rotation of the agitator, natural forces transport the phases back to their natural situation within the reactor tube.

5. The process according to claim 4, in which the natural forces are selected from gravity and buoyancy.

6. The process according to claim 4, in which the natural forces are selected from reflection and refraction.

7. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

9. The process according to claim 1, in which the agitator is driven by a pneumatic or electric or hydraulic motor or actuator first in a clockwise direction, then stopped and driven in a counter clockwise direction, or vice versa.

10. (canceled)

11. A reaction vessel through which process material comprising at least two phases flow in a continuous manner entering through an inlet and product leaving via an outlet, wherein an agitator is provided inside the vessel which is capable of rotational or reciprocal movement through an arc, and the agitator is shaped to capture material from a first phase in its preferred situation to transfer the material to within a second phase where it is distributed within the second phase and subsequently allowed to pass through the agitator back to its original situation.

12. The reaction vessel according to claim 11, in which the phases comprise liquids optionally in conjunction with a gas or a suspended solid.

13. The reaction vessel according to claim 11, wherein the reaction vessel is a tubular reactor.

14. The reaction vessel according to claim 13, in which the agitator comprises a probe within the tubular reactor extending substantially along a length of the reactor.

15. The reaction vessel according to claim 14, in which penetrations comprising apertures, through holes, or slots are cut or formed into a body of the agitator.

16. The reaction vessel according to claim 15, in which the penetrations permit and encourage radial flow of the process fluid through the agitator body and provide a mixing system that is close to plug flow conditions along the vessel.

17. (canceled)

18. The reaction vessel according to claim 11, wherein the agitator has a convex and/or concave profile.

19. The reaction vessel according to claim 11, wherein the agitator occupies from 10% to 99% of the cross sectional area of the tube within which it is used.

20. (canceled)

21. (canceled)

22. The reaction vessel according to claim 11, wherein flow channels are cut within a body of a shaft of the agitator for an application of heating/cooling.

23. A reaction vessel according to claim 11, wherein the reaction vessel is a tubular vessel, and wherein an outside diameter of the agitator relative to an internal diameter of the tubular vessel is varied along a length of the reaction vessel.

24.-28. (canceled)

29. The reaction vessel according to claim 19, wherein the agitator occupies from 25% to 90% of the cross sectional area of the tube within which it is used.

Description

[0035] The present invention is illustrated by reference to the accompanying Figures which show various agitator designs for use in the present invention.

[0036] FIG. 1 shows an agitator (1) wherein one or more longitudinal channels (2) are deployed to change the residence time of the process material. A process fluid can flow as indicated by arrow (3). In this way the process fluid has a short residence time in section (4) and a progressively increasing residence time as it passes along the reactor to section (5) giving control of the temperature according to the degree of reaction. Concave mixing elements (6) promote good heat transfer coefficients.

[0037] FIG. 2 shows an agitator (7) with multiple mixing elements (8) wherein radial penetrations (9) and longitudinal penetrations (10) reduce the conglomeration size of the process material phases flowing in the direction of the arrow (11) while the concave profiles (12) transports the process phase material to its unnatural situation and the convex profiles (13) promote good heat transfer coefficients.

[0038] FIG. 3 shows an agitator (14) with multiple radial channels (15) wherein vortices generated within the individual radial channels reduce the conglomeration size of the process material phases flowing in the direction of the arrow (16) and transport the process phase materials to their unnatural situation and the convex profiles (17) promote good heat transfer coefficients.

[0039] For some process applications this technology may be operated in part or as a whole system as a batch or loop reactor or bio-reactor. For example a flow crystallization system that filters out undersized particles and reintroduces them to the system either at the start of the reactor or part way along the reactor length. Or a bioprocessing system wherein algae is used to sequestrate carbon dioxide.

[0040] The reactors of this invention may be made from a range of materials depending on the nature of the reactants. However glass (e.g. borosilicate and silica quartz), ceramics (e.g. Zirconia and Silicon Carbide), plastics (e.g. PTFE, PFA, PVDF, Nylon and Peek), alloy steel (e.g. Alloy C276, Tantalum, Titanium and stainless steels), steel, glass lined (enamelled) steel and plastic lined steel have been found to be particularly useful.

[0041] FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are schematic cross sectional illustrations through a reactor tube fitted with an agitator and showing the operation of a reactor of the present invention wherein the process material comprises a gas phase and a liquid phase.

[0042] FIG. 4 shows the reactor in its starting position, the arrows (18) showing the reciprocal motion of the agitator (19) is a gas phase and (20) is a liquid phase and (21) is the agitator provided with a convex profile at its ends. In this Figure both the gas and the liquid are in their natural situations.

[0043] FIG. 5 shows how as the agitator rotates it take some of the gaseous phase (22) with it into the liquid phase.

[0044] The agitator is provided with a series of small holes or penetrations (not shown) and FIG. 6 shows how the element of the gaseous phase (22) is broken up by the force of the agitator and they pass back through the holes in the agitator due to the natural buoyancy and tendency to revert to their original situation.

[0045] Although this is shown just at the initial location of the reactor this mechanism will be repeated along the reactor as the process material comprising the two phases flows along the reactor thereby enabling the phases to interact and produce the desired product at the outlet of the reactor which may be a mixture of the phases or the reaction product of the phases.