Tower reactor and use thereof for the continuous production of high molecular weight polyesters
AssigneeUhde Inventa-Fisher GmbH
InventorsEike Schulz Van Endert, Christian Atlas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a tower reactor and the use thereof for producing high-molecular weight polyesters, such as e.g. polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polynaphthalene terephthalate (PEN), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) and/or polyesters of other dicarboxylic acids and diols including copolymers thereof. It thereby concerns a single-stage tower reactor.
Claims31
A tower reactor comprising reaction zones for simultaneous esterification and/or transesterification and also precondensation, the individual reaction zones being connected to each other and combined in the tower reactor, wherein the at least one tower reactor is constructed as follows:
- in the upper third, the tower reactor is configured in the form of a hydrocyclone with attached heat exchanger and has a supply line for the paste, suspension and/or liquid raw material mixture, the region of the tower reactor below the hydrocyclone is configured in the form of a downflow cascade, the cascade is via a pipe in connection with the lower part of the tower reactor which is configured in the form of a single- or multiple-stage falling-film zone with a preliminary pressure reduction.
A method for continuous production of high-molecular weight polyesters by at least one of esterification of dicarboxylic acids and transesterification of dicarboxylic acid esters with diols in the presence of catalysts with formation of a prepolymer and polycondensation thereof to form high-molecular weight polyester, the method comprising providing a tower reactor comprising reaction zones for at least one of simultaneous esterification and precondensation and simultaneous transesterification and precondensation, the individual reaction zones being connected to each other and combined in the tower reactor, constructing the tower reactor as follows:
- configuring the upper third of the tower reactor in the form of a hydrocyclone with an attached heat exchanger and a supply line for at least one of a paste raw material mixture, a suspension raw material mixture and a liquid raw material mixture, configuring the region of the tower reactor below the hydrocyclone in the form of a downflow cascade, the cascade is via a pipe in connection with the lower part of the tower reactor, and configuring the lower part of the tower reactor in the form of one of a single-stage falling-film zone with a preliminary pressure reduction and a multiple-stage falling-film zone with a preliminary pressure reduction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.