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Application 1043

Using a rotating bed reactor in different liquid volumes

Research and development quickly takes new directions, and the requirements on a laboratory may vary with every new project. Limiting yourself to equipment with a narrow scope of conditions and applications may become expensive in the long run. The need for new equipment may inflict delays and affect your capability to take on emerging opportunities.

SpinChem’s rotating bed reactors can be used with any solid phase where the particles are larger than 100 µm, and the range of possible operating conditions is large. From highly viscous solutions to varying temperatures or pressures, the rotating bed reactors are versatile. The rotating bed reactor creates a strong flow of liquid through the solid phase and efficiently mixes the entire liquid volume. This means that the same rotating bed reactor can be deployed in liquids of different volumes.

In this example Methylene Blue was dissolved in similar concentrations in four different volumes of water. An RBR S2 was filled with activated carbon and used to decolorize the solutions. The decolorization followed 1st order kinetics (exponential decay), and the reaction rate coefficients were, predictably, found to be inversely proportional to the liquid volume. The time to reach a target concentration was thus simply proportional to the liquid volume.

This experiment has demonstrated that a rotating bed reactor can be used in greatly varying liquid volumes, and that the performance easily carries over between scales. With a rotating bed reactor in your lab, you are prepared to try new heterogeneous applications or develop processes like catalysis, adsorption or ion exchange reactions.

SpinChem provides rotating bed reactors from laboratory scale to full production for companies in Pharma, Food & Beverage, Nuclear waste management, and many other industries. Reach out to us for a discussion of your application.

Details

Reaction conditions: RBR S2, activated carbon, 500 RPM, Ambient temperature. Liquid volumes 150, 250, 400, 5000 mL and masses of methylene blue 0.2, 0.34, 0,34, and 6 mg respectively.