Process Intensification of Quasi-Homogeneous Catalytic Hydrogenation in a Rotating Packed Bed Reactor

Quasi-homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation benefits from the absence of intraparticle diffusion in the catalyst with the gas-liquid-solid system. However, it still suffers from the gas-liquid mass-transfer resistance, which limits the hydrogenation reaction rate. In this work, a rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor was first applied for the intensification of quasi-homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation, employing hydrogenation of 2-ethylanthraquinone (EAQ) as the test system. Effects of operating conditions, including rotational speed of the RPB reactor, initial concentration of EAQ, hydrogen pressure, reaction temperature, and volume ratio of the solvent on H2O2 yield and selectivity were investigated. The space time yield in the RPB reactor reached 369.8 g(H2O2)center dot g(Pd)(-1).h(-1), which was much higher than that of 14.5 g(H2O2)center dot g(Pd)(-1).h(-1) in the slurry stirred tank reactor under the same conditions. Applying RPB technology for the quasi-homogeneous catalytic reaction can be regarded as a new strategy for hydrogenation process intensification.