Optimal Design of Tubular and Packed-Bed Homogeneous Flow Chemical Reactors for Column Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

The performance of homogeneous flow chemical reactors is discussed theoretically and investigated experimentally. The packed-bed and the tubular reactor types are compared with respect to peak-broadening and pressure drop. It is demonstrated that in optimized form both reactor types can be used in combination with usual HPLC columns for reaction times up to 2 min without significant loss in chromatographic resolution even of nonretarded compounds. For strongly retarded compounds, much larger reaction times are allowed, e.g., 10 min for a capacity factor of 3. The packed-bed reactor is found to be superior with regard to peak-broadening and pressure drop and is to be preferred in critical cases. © 1980, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.