Determination of temperature profile within continuous micromixer-tube reactor used for the exothermic addition of dimethyl amine to acrylonitrile and an exothermic ionic liquid synthesis

Continuous micromixer-tube reactors are versatile and widely used tools to explore the benefits of microreactor processing for organic synthesis. Due to enhanced mass and heat transfer capabilities and mechanical stability with regard to temperature and pressure their use can lead for given chemical protocols to process intensification and as important additional aspect enable process chemistry with novel features not feasible so far because of limits of conventional equipment. Naturally, the heat transfer capabilities of the tube section within continuous micromixer-tube reactors are - albeit enhanced - limited especially since they are often rather meso- than microstructed. In this context the temperature profiles within the tube section of a continuous micromixer-tube reactor was determined for two exothermic reactions, the addition of dimethly amine to acrylonitrile and an ionic liquid synthesis, in order to determine the occurrence and extent of hot spot formation for different process conditions and to gain thereby also a deeper understanding of the processes. Seven temperature sensing elements were therefore integrated into the tube section. Furthermore, it is outlined how these experiments can contribute to the targeted adaptation of the reactors.