On the use of Stirred Reactors for the Full-Scale Chlorination of Methane/Methyl Chloride Mixtures and Estimates of the Capacity of Installed Plant at Rocksavage Works
August 5th, 1965
Preliminary report from Group II, ICI Central Instrument Research Lab.
S F Bush
Summary
The possible used of stirred reactors at Rocksavage depends on their performance relative to that of the existing plant and proposed extensions. The conclusions of this report are therefore based on estimates made by the author and by Mond Division of the performance of a train of chlorinators and on estimates made by the author of the performance of stirred reactor trains. These estimates are made with respect to conversion and capacity, and suggest a simple model of the chlorinators which will be refined and presented, together with more general information, in a later report. It must be emphasised that the estimates made here depend on somewhat scanty information about the plant performance and on kinetics derived from a small stainless steel stirred vessel. However, whenever possible the least favourable, but still realistic, data have been used in estimating. Thus it is thought, and has been assumed here, that the steel walls of the stirred reactor would yield a lower overall rate of reaction than the brick lined walls of the chlorinators, and that kinetics so based would thus yield a pessimistic estimate of plant capacity.