Determination of fast gas–liquid reaction kinetics in flow

Abstract

We present a flow concept to measure fast gas–liquid reaction kinetics. A tube-in-tube reactor design with semipermeable Teflon AF-2400 tubes is adopted to achieve fast gas–liquid mass transfer without direct contact of gas and liquid. By performing a steady-state flux balance of both gas and liquid flowing into the reactor and developing a mathematical model based on the film theory, the reaction kinetic parameters can be determined with excellent precision with the use of only a single gas flow meter. Reactions of CO2 with alkanolamines and ozonolysis of organics serve as case studies to assess the ability of the technique to resolve reaction kinetics in situ. The proposed strategy presents a new opportunity for the study of fundamental aspects of gas–liquid reactions in a simple, safe, automated and high-throughput manner.