The Preparation of D-glucitol in A Multi-tube Airlift Loop Reactor with Low H/D Ratio

J. Wen, W. Changlin and L. Yanxin

Abstract
The preparation of D-glucitol from D-glucose aqueous solution by hydrogenation over Raney Nickel catalysts was carried out in a 0.06 m3 multi-tube airlift loop reactor (MALR) with low H/D ratio. Five main affecting factors on reaction time and molar yield to D-glucitol including reaction temperature, reaction pressure, pH, hydrogen gas flowrate and content of active hydrogen were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum operating conditions, the average reaction time and molar yield were 65 min and 98.8 %, respectively. In addition, the comparison of efficiency for the preparation of D-glucitol between the MALR with low H/D ratio and stirred tank reactor (STR) under the same operating conditions was conducted.

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Keywords
D-glucose, hydrogenation, D-glucitol, Multi-tube airlift loop reactor with low H/D ratio