Heat Integration through Alkoxylation in Flow (funded by BASF)

目前，巴斯夫生产的各种烷氧基酸盐约为800kt/a。除了一个例外，所有的过程都是以批/半批方式运行的。因此，这些过程的热积分得不到实现，反应热损失。作为实施热集成的先决条件，通过连续操作烷氧基化过程来减少巴斯夫的碳足迹的潜力很大。挑战第一个挑战是在足够高的温度下运行烷氧基化过程，以产生宝贵的热量，例如在200-220摄氏度产生蒸汽。在传统的半间歇工艺中，在这样的温度下，副产物烯丙醇的形成会影响产品质量。有必要找到在足够高的反应堆温度下产生所需按规格材料的条件(工艺窗口)。第二个挑战是开发连续生产的概念，当全年需要生产许多不同的专业时，生产最少的不合规格的材料。当从一个工序转移到另一个工序时，连续生产线中的大量滞留量会导致不合格的材料。理想/方法我们建议通过开发小规模的(理想的灵活的)连续生产工艺来解决间歇烷氧基化的热损失问题，以实现直接的热集成。为此，我们将在流动化学反应器中探索高达220摄氏度的高温下的烷氧基化反应，该反应器便于在高浓度下操作，并提供反应介质的快速加热和冷却。通过这种方式，我们的目标是减少烯丙醇形成对产品质量的不利影响。反应堆恒定的高温将提供加压蒸汽用于加热--“凡尔本德”或用于发电。除了这项工作，还将对一个灵活的、连续运行的生产工厂进行设计研究，该工厂具有较小的持料量，以允许以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型流动化工厂的概念。上述概念的适用性应通过巴斯夫产品组合中的2至3个与工业相关的系统进行验证。为此，将为学生提供巴斯夫研发实验室的工业实习机会。这项研究将由一名博士生与Klaus Hellgardt教授(伦敦帝国理工学院)合作进行。

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).