High performance continuous reaction/separation process using a continuous liquid-solid contactor

Abstract

A process for reaction and separation which comprises inputting a process material into at least one column of a plurality of columns wherein each column has at least one inlet for accepting flow from another column or group of columns, an external feed stream, an external eluent stream or a combination thereof, and each column has at least one outlet for connecting to another column, a group of columns, an external product stream or a combination thereof. Each column is independently operable in an up-flow or down-flow mode and connected independently to one of the group comprising another column, an external feed stream, an external eluent stream, an external product stream and combinations thereof.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a process for chemical reaction and separation using a liquid-solid contacting system and, more particularly, to a chemical reaction and separation process using a plurality of columns wherein each column can be independently connected and independently operated for flow inlet and outlet, such as parallel fluid flow, reverse fluid flow or combination of flows.[0002] Combining a process for conducting a continuous reaction with concurrent separation into a single process technique has received renewed attention in recent years. Various reaction / separation technologies are being investigated and have reached differing degrees of development or commercial viability. Fairly developed techniques include, for example, reactive distillation techniques and reactive chromatography. Other techniques, such as reactive membranes and reactive crystallization techniques, are also being developed. Some of these techniques have provided certain benefits such as redu...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018] Particularly, when used with the present process, this device allows for a wide variety of processing possibilities that have not been taught in the prior art of combined reaction / separation technologies. The ability to incorporate parallel liquid flow, reverse liquid flow, and combination unit configuration, as single or multiple zones and in any combination within a single unit, is a capability that is unique to the present invention. This can prove especially advantageous in the present invention because this process is not limited to a series bed arrangement and unidirectional fluid flow as is the prior art. This flexibility advantageously increases productivity, reduces costs and improves product quality over traditional processes. Other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood or apparent from a perusal of the following detailed description and examples of the invention and appended claims.

Problems solved by technology

Despite these advantages, however, this technique has drawbacks, which include temperature sensitivity and azeotrope formation.

Despite these advantages, the traditional SMB techniques have certain drawbacks.

This limited configuration inherently prevents the system from handling many reaction / separation applications, such as those that require high mass flow, toxin removal, and individual optimization of reaction and separation conditions.

With these applications, the traditional SMB reactor system becomes very complicated, very expensive, and sometimes impractical.

Furthermore, none of the present technologies allow for a continuous reaction and separation process using contacting beds arranged in parallel, rather than series, having reverse flow capabilities, or combination unit capabilities.

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