Bench -scale study of a liquid phase oxidation reaction

The kinetics of the liquid phase oxidation of 1,2,3,4 Tetrahydronaphthalene to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-2-one was studied in the presence of a chrome containing insoluble complex of polyvinylpyridine catalyst in a batch reactor. Effects of various parameters including temperature, catalyst particle size, chrome content, catalyst concentration, recyclable, residue formation, impurities were examined to determine the effect on the catalyst performance. The rate constants and apparent activation energy were estimated for various resins in the 140–160°C ranges. It was found that the oxidation reaction is pore diffusion limited under the operating conditions. The catalyst performance parameters such as conversion, yield, residue level, acid level, and tetralin hydroperoxide level of the catalyst were compared with the chrome exchanged carboxylic acid resin—MEP, the two part systems. It appears that an optimum amount of chromium in the polyvinylpyridine catalyst is required to obtain comparable results with the traditionally used two component system. The results were interpreted in terms of a free radical chain reaction mechanism and three-phase slurry reactor