ABSTRACT
Heterogeneously catalyzed hydrogenation is typically carried out either in slurry reactors or fixed-bed adiabatic reactors in series. Slurry reactors are often operated in multiphase mode involving the sparging of hydrogen through a slurry of the liquid reactant and finely powdered catalyst particles. The liquid phase in slurry reactors serves to absorb the heat generated by the exothermic hydrogenation reactions. However, the low solubility of hydrogen in the solvent leads to severe gas-liquid mass transfer limitations. The other drawbacks of the conventional process include the possibility of runaway conditions with adiabatic reactors in series, large reactor volumes for slurry reactors, and costs associated with separating the product and the catalyst from the product mixture.
