Chemical absorption of mercaptan in an aerosol operated loop reactor

A mechanistic mathematical model for the chemical absorption of mercaptan in sodium hypochlorite solution has been derived. In order to describe the process adequately, a semi-verified complex scheme of the involved kinetic reactions based on stopped-flow measurements with UV-detection has been implemented. The overall system of differential equations has been solved numerically. For some asymptotic cases, approximation formulae are given. The process has been carried out in an aerosol operated jet loop reactor which is characterized by high interfacial areas at low liquid flow rates. Fitting the model solution to the experimentally obtained conversion data enabled determination of the unknown hydrodynamic parameters. By means of a sensitivity analysis, the influences of the different parameters are discussed.