Application 1024 Decolourization using column treatment compared with rotating bed reactor

Decolourization more efficient in rotating bed reactor than in fixed bed reactor

A fixed bed reactor (FBR), also known as a packed bed reactor or column, is a traditional technology for processes such as adsorption or heterogeneous catalysis. Achieving the required level of purification or conversion means running the liquid through the reactor at a sufficiently low flow rate, and the throughput of a fixed bed reactor is therefore often limited.

The rotating bed reactor (RBR) is a high-throughput reactor technology that is revolutionizing the way heterogeneous processes are performed. Catalysis by immobilized enzymes or chemical catalysts, the use of adsorbents or ion-exchange resins are a few examples of applications that are made more efficient in the RBR.

SpinChem rotating bed reactor filled with ion exchange resin

In this application note we compare a rotating bed reactor to a fixed bed reactor for the removal of methylene blue dye from water. The SpinChem® RBR reaches the same level of decolorization in only 40% of the time when using the same quantity of adsorbent as in the FBR. It is also possible to reduce the loading of adsorbent in the RBR by 50% and finish the process in the same time as the FBR does fully packed.

  • -60% processing time, or
  • -50% material consumed

Graph showing that SpinChem® rotating bed reactor reaches the same level of decolorization in only 40% of the time

Is process time or material consumption critical to you?

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