Process intensification in carbonylation of formaldehyde with active and passive enhancement methods

The process intensification in carbonylation of formaldehyde by active and passive enhancement was investigated in stirred tank reactor and membrane contactor, respectively. The increase of rotational speed and decrease of reaction solution volume was advantageous to the yield of glycolic acid in active strengthening experiments, indicating that the reaction was greatly affected by the mass transfer of CO. In passive reinforcement mode, the membrane contactor composed of PTFE hollow fibers with inner diameter of 0.85 mm or 0.42 mm was used as a novel reactor to improve the process mass transfer. The effects of reaction temperature, operation pressure, reaction time and reactant concentration were systematically studied. The results showed that membrane contactor was an effective reactor for the carbonylation of formaldehyde compared to the conventional tank reactor. This study provided a reference for the process intensification of similar gas-liquid reactions. Graphical abstract