Heat Integration through Alkoxylation in Flow (funded by BASF)

需求目前巴斯夫公司生产各种烷氧基化物约800 kt/a。除了一个例外，所有工艺都是分批/半分批操作。因此，这些过程的热集成没有实现，并且反应焓损失。作为实施热集成的先决条件，通过连续操作烷氧基化工艺来减少巴斯夫的碳足迹的潜力是巨大的。第一个挑战是在足够高的温度下运行烷氧基化过程以产生有价值的热量，例如，G.在200 - 220 ℃下加热以产生蒸汽。在常规的半间歇加工中，产品质量由于在这样的温度下形成烯丙醇作为副产物而受到损害。有必要找到在足够高的反应器温度下产生所需的符合规格的材料的条件（加工窗口）。第二个挑战是开发连续生产的概念，生产最少量的不合格材料，而全年需要生产许多不同的专业产品。不合格物料是由于连续生产线在从一个活动转移到另一个活动时的大量滞留造成的。想法/方法我们建议通过开发小规模（最好是灵活的）连续生产工艺来解决间歇烷氧基化过程中的热损失问题，从而实现直接的热集成。为此，我们将探索在高达220 ℃的高温下在流动化学反应器中的烷氧基化反应，该反应器有助于在升高的浓度下操作并提供反应介质的快速加热和冷却。通过这种方式，我们旨在减少烯丙醇形成对产品质量的不利影响。反应堆的恒定高温将提供加压蒸汽用于加热-“Verbund”或发电。这项工作将由一个灵活的，连续运行的生产工厂的设计研究补充，该工厂具有小的滞留量，以允许用最少的不合格材料生产不同的专业活动。此外，通过技术经济基准，它将探索全年运营的定制小规模流动化学工厂的概念。上述概念的适用性应通过巴斯夫产品组合中的2至3个工业相关系统来证明。为此，巴斯夫研发实验室的工业实习将提供给学生。设置该研究将由博士进行。与Klaus Hellgardt教授（伦敦帝国理工学院伦敦）合作的学生。

NeedCurrently about 800 kt/a of various alkoxylates are produced by BASF. With one exception, all of the processes are operated in batch/semi-batch. Consequently, heat-integration for these processes is not realized and the reaction enthalpy is lost. The potential to reduce BASF's carbon footprint by operating the alkoxylation processes continuously as a prerequisite for implementing heat integration is great. ChallengesA first challenge is to run alkoxylation processes at sufficiently high temperatures to generate valuable heat, e. g. at 200 - 220 C to generate steam. In conventional semi-batch processing product quality is compromised by the formation of allylic alcohols as side products at such temperatures. It would be necessary to find conditions (processing windows) that yield the desired on-spec material at sufficiently high reactor temperatures. A second challenge is to develop concepts for continuous production that produce minimal amounts of off-spec material, when many different specialties need to be produced throughout the year. Off-spec material results from large hold-up volumes in continuous production lines, when shifting from one campaign to the other. It compromises profitability.Idea/approach We propose to tackle the issue of heat-loss in batch-alkoxylation by developing small-scale (and ideally flexible) continuous production processes for straightforward heat-integration. To this end, we will explore alkoxylation reactions at elevated temperature of up to 220 C in a flow chemistry reactor that facilitates operating at elevated concentration and provides rapid heating and cooling of the reaction media. In this way we aim at reducing the adverse effects of allylic alcohol formation on product quality. The constant high temperature of the reactor will provide pressurized steam to be used in a heat-"Verbund" or for the generation of electricity. The work will be complemented by a design study for a flexible, continuously operated production plant with small hold-up volume to allow for the production of different specialty campaigns with minimal off-spec material. Additionally, by technoeconomic benchmarking, it will explore concepts of bespoke small-scale flow chemistry plants to be operated throughout the year. The applicability of the above concept shall be demonstrated with 2 to 3 industrially relevant systems from BASF's product portfolio. To this end, an industrial placement in a BASF R&D lab will be offered to the student. Setup The research will be carried out by a Ph.D. student working with Prof. Klaus Hellgardt (Imperial College London).