Microinterface intensification in hydrogenation and air oxidation processes

Hydrogenations and air oxidations usually have low apparent reaction rate, generally controlled by mass transfer rate, and widely exist in the modern chemical manufacturing process. The key to increase the mass transfer rate is the reduction of the liquid film resistance 1/kLa. In this work, the original concept of microinterface intensification for mass transfer and then for these reactions has been proposed. We derived the regulation model and set up the mathematical calculation method of micron-scale gas–liquid interface structure on mass transfer and reaction, designed the mechanical energy exchange device that can produce gas–liquid microinterface system on a large scale, and established the OMIS system which is able on line to measure the diameter and distribution of millions of microbubbles, interface area a and mass transfer film thickness δM, as well as developed a series of microinterface intensified reactor systems (MIRs) for the applications of hydrogenation and air oxidation processes. It is believed that this research will provide an up-to-date development for the intensification of hydrogenation and air oxidation reactions.