Precise correlation was needed between the lab research and process productions scale.

Custom Reactor-Ready

Organisation: Confidential

Department: Process R&D

Country: India

Product: Custom Reactor-Ready Reactors

Case Study No: CS1086

The situation

Radleys reactors with a ratio of internal jacketed height (L) to internal diameter (D) of 1.25:1 were being used with standard impellors through a DN100 neck flange. This restricted the maximum impellor diameter, which team believed would potentially give a different set of conditions in the lab compared to the plant reactors.

The objective

The process group therefore wanted to have a 3 L reactor with an LxD of 0.8 : 1 and a 5L reactor with an LxD of 1.1:1. They also wanted the agitators to have a greater sweep ratio, closer to the ratio of the plant reactors and therefore Radleys suggested using a DN200 flange on these smaller 3 and 5 L reactors to accommodate the wider diameter of the required agitators. The reactors were also graduated and had vacuum jackets for better visibility when working at low temperatures where frost would normally build on single jacket reactors.

The results

Radleys designed 3 L and 5 L reactors with matching agitators, based on dimensions of the plant reactors, supplied by the process group. This allowed a modified Reactor-Ready frame to support these custom DN200 vacuum jacket reactors. The team are very pleased with the results and correlation they are now getting between the lab research and process productions scale.

The team are very pleased with the results and correlation they are now getting between the lab research and process productions scale.Process R&D team