Hydrocarbon Dehalogenation in a Tortuous Microreactor

Application ID: 2182


Removing halogen groups from hydrocarbons is an important reaction step in several chemical processes. One application is water purification. Other examples involve organic synthesis, where the removal of halogen groups serves as a starting point for carbon-carbon coupling reactions. Typically, the carbon-halogen bond scission is activated by precious metal catalysts based on platinum or palladium.

This model shows hydrocarbon dehalogenation as it occurs in a microreactor. The reactants are transported from the fluid bulk to the catalytic surfaces at the reactor walls, where they react. First you set up a space-independent model, analyzing two competing reactions, using the Reaction Engineering interface. Then, you export the reaction kinetics and set up and solve a space-dependent model of the microreactor.

This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products: