Mass Transfer Analysis in Hydrogenation Reactions Using a Taylor Flow Reactor

The hydrogenation of α-methylstyrene was used as a model reaction for three-phase reaction processes, and the effects of various operational parameters on the enhancement of the reaction rate in a Taylor flow reactor were investigated. The reaction rate was found to be inversely proportional to the thickness of the liquid film and directly proportional to the gas hold-up. A comparison of the predicted reaction rates with the experimental results revealed that, as the reaction rate increased, the discrepancy from the model also grew. It was determined that the primary source of this discrepancy was the prediction of mass transfer within the liquid film. By incorporating the average depth of the roughness features into the diffusion distance, accurate predictions of the reaction rate were achieved with approximately ±20% precision.