Chemical Process Engineering

The reactor is the heart of a chemical process. It is the task of chemical process engineering to optimise the process inside the reactor and generate the best possible conditions for product work-up. There are many parameters and boundary conditions that influence the operation of a fully thermally integrated reactor in the bulk chemicals industry.

• conversion and selectivity
• fluid dynamics and mixing
• heat of reaction and temperature
• pressure
• activity of the catalyst
• reactor service life

A&D AS Solutions Process Industries uses the latest methods and technologies to make processes in the bulk chemicals industry even more efficient. We combine theory and experiment and are accustomed to working with hazardous chemicals.

• Conversion and selectivity are determined in tubular reactors with on-line analysis in laboratory and pilot-plant scale to find the optimum way to run the reactor.
• The formation of by-products and build-ups is determined mainly by fluid dynamics and mixing reactants and products in the reactor. By using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), we are able to calculate details of the fluid flow, mixing and reaction taking place inside the reactor.
• The heat of reaction determines the energy balance of the reactor and whole plant at the same time. Through optimum use of the heat released by the reaction, operating costs can be reduced. We determine the heat of reaction with the aid of reaction calorimeters - even at high pressure.
• The activity of the catalyst and especially the time the activity is maintained is very important for the service life of the reactor. We determine the long-term activity of catalysts in reactors equipped with a process control system (PCS).
• Our experiments in the laboratory are accompanied by reactor modelling to classify the results in their chemical context. This makes it easier to scale up the results to production scale. Kinetic models often allow quick selection of experimental conditions, which improves and accelerates optimisation.

In our investigations, we always focus on the optimum, most economical way to run the whole production process.