Experimental and CFD study of a new one-pot reactor for hybrid catalysis.

A new reactor design is proposed to carry out hybrid catalysis. It involves a two-basket reactor, one filled with an heterogeneous catalyst and the other with a supported enzymatic catalyst The physical transfer properties (k(L)a, mixing time, ... ) have been studied experimentally and the velocity, mixing time and thermal behavior simulated by CFD. Volumetric oxygen mass transfer (k(L)a) between 0.02 s(-1) and 0.035 s(-1) are obtained. The simulated mixing times are in good agreement with the experimental ones. The mass flow field are simulated in various conditions of stirring. The thermal behavior of the reactor is also simulated, allowing for the observation of two zones (cold and hot) with a Delta T of up to 15 K while keeping good mass transfer characteristics.