New method for simultaneous measurement of hydrodynamics and reaction rates in a mini-channel with Taylor flow

Current knowledge on the design and performance of three-phase monolithic reactors and mini-structured reactors is limited by a lack of knowledge on hydrodynamics and mass transfer while a chemical reaction takes place. Therefore, a new method for the simultaneous measurement of hydrodynamics and reaction rates in a mini-channel with catalytically active walls at pressures up to 5 MPa is presented. A newly developed setup has led to an investigation of the influence of the operating conditions and of the gas–liquid feeding on the characteristics of Taylor flow and on chemical conversion. The detected parameters include gas bubble length, liquid slug length, bubble flattening in the cross-sectional area, change in the gas bubble velocity due to conversion and overall macrokinetics. The hydrogenation of α-methylstyrene was used as a test reaction system at a pressure of 1 MPa and a temperature of 343 K.