Understanding the Reaction Crystallization Process of Glycidyl Trimethyl Ammonium Chloride

Shuai Yu,Wenguo Xing,Fumin Xue,Yan Cheng,Xujie Gao,Yan Wang,Shichao Du,Hui Chen,Weichun Feng

doi:10.3390/cryst11040449

Abstract

Reaction crystallization to produce glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTA) via epichlorohydrin with gas-state trimethylamine was investigated. The crystallization process of the GTA gas-liquid reaction was optimized by a seed method. The optimized technology can prepare GTA products with crystal form and purity greater than 97%. The crystallization process of GTA consists of four steps (i.e., addition of seed, dispersion of seed, growth of crystals on the seed surfaces, agglomeration and growth of crystal). Seed method and flow rate are the key factors affecting purity. The purity and particle size of GTA crystals were satisfactory as long as the operation was kept within the defined envelope. The experiments were conducted on a 1 L reactor and successfully scaled-up to 3000 L in industry.

Highlights

Glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTA, CAS No 3033-77-0), with a chemical formula C6H14ClNO, is a kind of solid active cationic etherifying agent
The crystallization process of glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTA) is directly prepared by one-step re 4 of 11 lization of trimethylamine in the gas phase and epichlorohydrin in the liq
The crystallization process of the GTA gas-liquid reaction was optimized by the seed method

Summary

Introduction

Glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTA, CAS No 3033-77-0), with a chemical formula C6H14ClNO, is a kind of solid active cationic etherifying agent. GTA is generally prepared by the reaction of epichlorohydrin with trimethylamine. There is little research on the reaction crystallization process of gas trimethylamine as reactant. The reactive nature of the gas adds difficulty to the control of the reaction process [3,4,5]. Preparation of trimethylamine solution increases the production procedure and cost. Solubility and supersaturation are important data bases for crystallization process research [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. The main problems in production of GTA are low purity, low crystallinity and difficulty in particle size control. Purity and particle size are important quality indexes of solid products [16]. The deep understanding of the crystallization process is the basis of technological innovation and optimization [17,18,19]

Methods

Results

Conclusion