TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF

GAS-LIQUID REACTORS
Prepared by
Devika A S
Athulya S Balakrishnan
METHODS TO CONTROL TEMPERATURE

COLD SHOT & HOT SHOT

• The injection of cold fresh feed directly into reactor at
intermediate points known as cold shot.
• If reaction is endothermic , then fresh feed has been preheated
can be injected at intermediate points called as hot shot.
• Temperature control is through a combination of direct heat
transfer and control of concentration
INDIRECT HEAT TRANSFER WITH THE REACTOR
• Indirect heating/cooling can be considered
• This is done by a heat transfer surface inside a reactor , such
as carrying out the reaction inside a tube and providing a
heating/cooling medium outside of tube
HEAT CARRIER
• An inert material can be introduced with reactor feed to increase
its heat capacity flow rate
• Where ever possible one of the existing process fluids should
be used as heat carrier
• Product or byproduct could be recycled to reactor to limit the
temperature change
CATALYST PROFILES
• Temperature of a highly exothermic reaction needs to be controlled by
packing the catalyst inside the tubes and passing a cooling medium
outside of the tubes
• Alternatively ,mixture of catalyst pellets and inert pellets can be used to
effectively dilute the catalyst
• By doing so rate of reaction in different parts of the bed to be controlled
more easily
• Using zones with decreasing amounts of inert pellets through the reactor
would control the rate of reaction to a more even profile through the
reactor, allowing better temperature control
GAS –LIQUID REACTORS
• Gas liquid reactors are quite common
• Consider the interface between a gas and a liquid
• Assumptions
Flow pattern giving a stagnant film in the liquid and gas on each
side of the interface
The bulk of the gas and liquid have uniform concentration
Reactant transfer from gas to liquid
There is diffusional resistance in liquid and gas film
• Rate of transfer of component i from gas to liquid through gas film
per unit volume of reaction mixture is given by;

• Rate of transfer of component i through the liquid film, per unit

volume of reaction mixture is given by;
• If equilibrium conditions at the interface are assumed to be described
by Henrys law

• If steady state is assumed then equations can be combined to obtain

• The solubility of gases varies widely
• Gases with low solubility have large values of Henrys law
coefficient
• Then liquid film resistance is large relative to gas film
resistance
• Thus liquid film resistance controls for gases with low solubility
• Gas film resistance controls for gases with high solubility
CONTACTING PATTERNS FOR GAS-
LIQUID REACTORS
THANK YOU