Yield enhancement by equilibrium displacement and primary product preservation in chromatographic catalytic reactors: the use of fluid logic modules.

Abstract

A gas chromatographic reactor in which both catalytic and chromatographic functions are combined has been used in conjunction with pulse techniques to study the enhancement of yields by equilibrium displacement and the reduction in the consumption of primary products through secondary reactions. Fluid logic injection devices have been used to produce short duration pulses of reactants. Good evidence for yield enhancement in the equilibrium, c-C 6H 12⇋ C 6H 6+3H 2, has been obtained from the effects on the degree of conversion to benzene of flow rate, bed length, carrier gas composition, and pulse duration. Crotonaldehyde has been found as a major product from the oxidation of but-1-ene by pulses of O 2 over a silver catalyst and the sensitivity of the yields to experimental parameters suggests that the oxidation of the aldehyde is reduced by separating the primary product from the reactant pulse in the reactor bed.